IGF 2019 WS #61
AI for Information Accessibility

Issue(s)

Organizer 1: Rui ZHONG, Internet Society of China
Organizer 2: Feng Guo, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology
Organizer 3: Jing MA, China Association for Science and Technology

Speaker 1: Noha Ashraf Abdel Baky, Civil Society, Intergovernmental Organization
Speaker 2: Lei Ning, Private Sector, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 3: Tajul Islam, Private Sector, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Lea Gimpel, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 5: Julie Maupin, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Moderator

Rui ZHONG, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group

Online Moderator

Yexin Liu, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group

Rapporteur

Rui ZHONG, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group

Format

Other - 90 Min
Format description: Best practice sharing + panel discussion from multiple perspectives, with classroom seat setting.

Policy Question(s)

1.How to improve and raise of public awareness for promoting the information accessibility?
2.How to ensure the new technology as AI, mobile-tech could be equally applied, affordable and accessible for the disadvantaged groups?
3.How to ensure the public policy making process could cover the need of the disadvantaged groups to achieve an inclusive information society through AI?
4.How the multi-stakeholders play theirs roles in facilitating the application of new tech for information accessibility?
5.How to ensure the use of, or set up, the global acceptance ethics for AI's application in information accessibility?

SDGs

GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Description: The international community has paid great attention to the information rights of people with disabilities. Many countries have made certain progress in narrowing the digital divide and promoting the construction of information barrier-free environment. In recent years, as the development of new emerging technology like artificial intelligence, it will empower the information accessibility by applying technology of language understanding, picture recognition, and human-machine voice interaction etc. The workshop will invite multi-stakeholder representatives to share their best practice on how to facilitate the AI's empowering for an inclusive information society from different angles, to discuss the challenges faced and how to find the solutions.

Expected Outcomes: It is expected that through workshop discussion it will promote exchange and provide some good samples for information accessibility development through AI, and to reach the goals of SDGs.

40 mins allocated to the speakers, and the rest of time for onsite/remote interaction.

Relevance to Theme: The concept of information accessibility is now far more beyond the scope of people with disabilities, it also refers to using the ICTs to improve the living for women, girls, the older group and less educated group. As the emgering of AI, it will empower the new ways of using information accessibility technology to make access shared by all.

Relevance to Internet Governance: How to promote the access for the next billion users, especially for the vulnerable and disadvantaged group, needs joint efforts by multi-stakeholders, from perspective of policy-making, tech innovation, standard setting, public awareness education etc. AI is a newly emgering tech that how to apply it with a better manner to narrow the digital divide still meets various challenges and needs to seek for the solutions.

Online Participation

The online moderator will facilitate and be resposible for organizing the remote participation and interaction.

Proposed Additional Tools: 1. Post news on our official website and SNS platform before the meeting;
2. Put a stand post at the IGF booth, if the booth application be finally approved;
3. Invite our partners who also be at the IGF.