The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs, through its Smart Cities for All (SC4A) global Initiative, has announced the appointment of two new members to the Smart Cities for All Advisory Committee that features accessibility experts from across the world.

ATLANTA (April 27, 2022) — G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs, has announced the appointment of two new members to its Smart Cities for All Advisory Committee that guides the reach and impact of the NGO’s Smart Cities for All (SC4A) global initiative.

In 2020, G3ict announced the launch of the Inclusive Smart Cities Advisory Committee on World Cities Day. The Smart Cities for All Advisory Committee includes disability leaders with deep knowledge and expertise in disabilities, cities, assistive technologies, information technologies, and Smart City solutions.

The committee members provide feedback to the SC4A staff on current projects and opportunities; suggest outreach opportunities and possible cooperation with other organizations; etc.

Headshot of Pina D’Intino

Pina D’Intino is the principal owner of Aequum Global Access Inc., a consulting practice that seeks to provide expertise in accessibility services for all types of organizations.

Pina is a sought-after consultant and speaker who actively promotes accessibility and inclusion from both executive-level and grassroots perspectives by bridging the viewpoints and needs of the organization, employees, and customers to establish best-practices environments. Working for a large financial institute for 29 years, Pina founded and co-chaired the Canadian Financial Institute on Assistive Technologies (CFIAT) and led the disability network group for 10 years. As a senior consultant and advisor for several large global companies, she developed roadmaps, built accessibility teams, and implemented quality controls to ensure accessibility is conducted through the development of products and services.

“We all have the right to freedom, equality, and access to information, built environments, transportation, and accessible services and products regardless of our personal identity, location or history. It is our combined responsibility and effort that will ensure that we open our minds and hearts to actively remove barriers that impede anyone’s ability to be free and be treated with respect, integrity, and equality. We have a unique opportunity to transform how we use the fast pace of digital evolution using AI and ML, robotics and other automation processes with the development and delivery of services and increase accessibility, so why not bring these opportunities, talents, and combined efforts to truly affect global change,” said Pina D’Intino. “Joining the SC4A Advisory Committee will allow me as an accessibility professional with lived experience to work with global leaders and Champions that can make that difference happen.”

Pina is a Senior Fellow at G3ict, an active member on several International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) committees promoting the accessibility profession and increasing awareness. Pina was an advisor and a member of several AODA reviews and initiatives during the development of the provincial standards. She is a certified PMI member and holds a master’s degree in Design in Inclusive Design (MDes) from OCADU. In 2013, Pina received the QE2 Diamond Jubilee medal by Canada’s Lt. Governor the Honourable David Onley for her work in accessibility in employment.

Headshot of Ekaete Judith Umoh

Ekaete Judith Umoh has over twenty years of experience as an international disability rights advocate and inclusive development expert with astute analysis of issues relating to gender, disability, and development. She is currently Country Director at CBM Global Disability Inclusion Nigeria, where she leads her team in the fight to end the circle of poverty and disability in Nigeria.

Ms. Umoh is Founder at FACICP Plus, an organization that seeks to promote the inclusion of women and girls with disabilities in all gender and development efforts. In 2014, she became the first elected Female President of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities – JONAPWD (www.jonapwd.org) in Nigeria where she led Organizations of Persons with disabilities in the struggles to signing the Nigerian Disability Bill into Law in 2019 after over seventeen years of consistent advocacy.

“I really like the fact that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is at the core of G3ict work which brings with it dignity and respect for human rights of persons with disabilities in the design and delivery of its projects and programs dedicated to improving ICT accessibility and digital inclusion. More so, I am particularly fascinated with the idea behind its Smart Cities for All Global Initiative, which I think is a great innovation that would help challenge all forms of inequalities while building an inclusive society for all,” said Ekaete Judith Umoh. “I am excited to join the Smart Cities for All Advisory Committee hoping that I can contribute in some ways to achieving the G3ict’s vision of an inclusive digital world for the full enjoyment of human rights of persons with disabilities.”

G3ict’s inclusive cities initiatives worldwide are led by its Global Policy Center.

“G3ict is committed to redefining what it means for a city to be both inclusive and smart,” said James Thurston, Vice President for Global Strategy and Development at G3ict. “The experience, leadership, and diverse perspective of the SC4A Advisory Committee, including now with Judith and Pina, are critical to achieving that goal.”

The G3ict’s Smart Cities for All Advisory Committee currently includes the following members:

  • Lidia Best (Consultant and Trainer)
  • Pina D’lntino (Founder, Aequum Global Access Inc.)
  • Hannes Juhlin Lagrelius (Program Officer, World Blind Union)
  • Karen Tamley (President and CEO, Access Living)
  • Cid Torguato (President, ICOM Libras) – Member Emeritus
  • Ekaete Judith Umoh (Country Director, CBM Global Disability Inclusion Nigeria; Secretary, African Disability Forum)
  • Yuval Wagner (Founder and Chair, Access Israel)

Related links: Introducing G3ict’s New Inclusive Smart Cities Advisory Committee

About G3ict

G3ict – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006, in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UN DESA. Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) promoting digital accessibility and Assistive Technologies. Participating organizations include industry, academia, the public sector, and organizations representing persons with disabilities. G3ict promotes good practices in digital accessibility policies and programs and provides tools for advocates around the world, including its Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation Index (DARE Index) designed to benchmark countries’ progress. Through its division IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, G3ict offers professional development resources and certification to more than 2,000 members in 46 countries. For more information, please visit the G3ict website.

About Smart Cities for All

In 2016, G3ict partnered with leading civil society and industry organizations to launch the Smart Cities for All global initiative. Since then, Smart Cities for All has defined the state of ICT accessibility in cities worldwide and created tools and a path forward to improve the digital inclusion of persons with disabilities and older persons. The goal of Smart Cities for All is to eliminate the digital divide for persons with disabilities and older persons in urban environments around the world. The global initiative partners with leading organizations and companies to create and deploy the tools and strategies needed to build more inclusive Smart Cities. For more information, please visit the Smart Cities for All website.

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Contact: Udita Singh, Communications Manager, G3ict, udita.singh@g3ict.org