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The Digital Center for IT Research and Uses by/on Adults and
Disables
In Murcia, Spain a fantastic project has been
started. Its goal is to further the uses of Information Technology (IT)
for older citizens and people with disabilities.
Below is a small amount of information extracted from the web
site. You can read more about what is one of the most important assistive
technology projects in the world today at: http://www.um.es/undis/nuevolibro/indexing.htm
3. The Ciud@d.es….. an out-look!
CENTRE for applied Research and Uses of NT. on Adults and Disable persons. Ciudad.es
(Centro de Investigacion y Usos de Adultos y Discapacitados)
located in the Murcian Region, and more precisely at the ‘Costa Cálida’.
- A virtual building, to be created at the site Ciud@d.es
keeping in mind the constant inter-action that both buildings must
share, from the very moment of their launching.
- A physical building, to be created, distributed and adapted, in a quiet
and easy accessible environment, for the purposes of Ciudad.es
JUSTIFICATION:
- The population pyramid is experiencing a serious and inexorable tendency
to duplicate or triplicate the percentage of adults and seniors in
Developed societies as well as in Developing countries 1
This is an issue that needs immediate attention & action.
- The situation of research concerning the applications of IT. in this
specific sector, which is a key sector in terms of relying populations
over 55’ years of age, in certain cases, even 45 years old, is too weak
in our country and lacks necessary practices.
- At the same time, NT. are breaking through unthinkable barriers within
the field of research 2 with inmmense
possibilities not only in adult education but also in its inter-action
with ‘on-line’ sites activities which do not require physical efforts,
thus making "accessible" 3 to
everybody 4 the Net.
- But there is more. The same barriers between adult/seniors and disables,
sometimes could inter-act, and sometimes even they could overlapped.
- Therefore, the Centre for Research and Uses of IT. on Adults and Disable
persons, the Ciud@d.es should offer a wide variety of sectors due to &
for inter-action, which at the same time are the very essence and
Philosophy of the Internet.
- Given the actual populations forecast for the coming years, as well as
its ageing percentage during the present decade, one of the sectors with a
real need of adaptation, education and promotion/integration is the one of
the adult/senior. They could also benefit from the simple uses of IT. in
their communication by using the future "Multy-Uses-Digital-Cabins",
(MUDC) to be established in every village, of the Region of Murcia, as one
of the first and priority research targets at the Centre of Ciud@ad.es and
as a confortable meeting site, for the interested adult population.
- The project has a "core group" which will be formed by
UNDIS Programme of the University School for Social Work of the University
of Murcia, which has already gathered a great amount of experience within
disability issues 5
OBJECTIVES:
- The project Centre Ciud@d.es should become a meeting point for all
applied research activities on the uses of NT. and particularly within the
of Special Interest Groups (SIG) of the WWW and its applications, as well
as in the uses of communications via e-mail.
- The Centre must become, quickly, a placed equipped with the best
Band-with supported by a state-of-the-art hardware with installations
designed to allow multi-Video-Conferences and Communications P2P
(Peer-to-Peer) and also to the new operative system CIRX.
- The platforms for direct application and uses of Ciud@d.es will be:
- The UNDIS, dedicated to Physically Disables.
- The ADULTservice, dedicated to the in-formation & e-ducation for
adults over the age of 55 6 and equipped with
(MUDC’s) "Multi-Uses-Digital-Cabins" offered, in every Village
of the Region, as a fast, cheap and comfortable process for communication
and learning schemes. 7
COMMON TAGETS for both platforms of Research and Uses:
: wide choice of e-ducative telematic
training & teaching related to the use of technologies applied to work,
studies, leisure purposes as well as courses on any subject, which can be
held on-site or at the mobile "Multi-Uses-Digital-Cabins" (MUDC’s)
increasing the participation of existing educative offer.
- Co-ordination
of educative initiatives on the uses of IT. at the
University of Murcia and within the educational system in the Region of
Murcia, as well.
- Promotion of research on accessibility
: using all possible resources
related to physical and electronic information, for work, leisure and
communications.
- Develop and maintain
a Data Base, with XML and XSL languages, on
studies, research activities and projects aimed at improving the quality of
life and the e-ducational, labour and social integration.
- Collect and publish existing support
offers and initiatives, aimed
at assisting in financing e-ducation, research activities and
the supply of services.
- Facilitate
ways to interested persons as means for study or applied
research to the improvement of services and the quality of life.
- Offer Consulting
and practical information in terms of technical and
social assistance, legislation, experience on on-going process, labour and
leisure as well as participation in different Associations.
In order to achieve these goals Ciud@d.es will be divided into the following
Sec-tors
- Sec-tor for e-ducation and re-search, which implies that
the’applied’ research should be located in the physical Building.
- Sec-tor for In-formation and Communication, which implies mainly jservices
‘on-line’, to be located in the virtual Building of Ciud@d.es
- Sec-tor for Services, which implies support activities, to be offered by
Ciud@ad.es when teaching ‘on-line’ on the uses of IT.
8 and specially with planning, reviewing and projecting new
mobiles MUDC’s.
José Luis Pardos, PhD
Ambassador of Spain to Denmark.
Copenhague, 30.10.2000
jlpardos@Inet.uni2.dk
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