Research Coordination Objectives
- Identify and evaluate existing Assistive Technology (AT) for enhancing social inclusion of individuals with ASD and/or ID. Gain a better understanding of the factors impacting the use of AT within the ASD and/or ID community across cultures, populations, and contexts.
- Achieve better understanding of AT abandonment issues to inform development of practice guidelines.
- Evaluate a new framework of guidelines to promote best practices of AT applications within the education and employment contexts.
- Create a joint roadmap for the inclusion of users, research, industry and policymakers in the design, development and deployment of AT.
- Develop practice guidelines of AT with considerations of ethical, regulatory and policy issues. Develop 3 new assessment methods of matching between person and AT.
- Build a web-based resource platform of existing AT applications to support users and providers in making informed choices leading to high uptake of AT.
- Establish priorities for future translational research via the identification and promotion of best practices in the use of AT
- Promote a range of AT applications with a particular focus on users and those who interact with them (e.g., caregivers, service providers).
- Explore the opportunities for coordinated AT research that corresponds to the Horizon Europe agenda and other under-explored funding schemes.
- Encourage exchanges between stakeholders and industry partners regarding current issues and needs to accelerate future development of new AT tools, including the use of artificial intelligence.
Capacity Building Objectives
- Identify an interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral pan-European network with inclusive multi- stakeholder representation to enable learning from wide ranging relevant experiences in research and practice to foster the AT applications to enhance social inclusion.
- Foster collaboration between research and industry to create an interdisciplinary and translational approach for the achievement of improved outcomes in education and employment.
- Provide interdisciplinary opportunities for cooperation between users, researchers, practitioners, industries and policymakers.
- Create a virtual collaboration-open space to foster teamwork and support rapid communications of knowledge among the proposers/partners to encourage transfer and exploitation of new insights arising from the Action network into the scientific, AT and disability services arena.
- Attract and support the next generation of Early Career Investigators (ECIs) to research in AT and social inclusion and support their interdisciplinary education and training through Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs). Including priority and active promotion to ECIs with ASD and/or ID.
- Disseminate knowledge and experience resulting from this network by publications, workshops, seminars, a final conference, public awareness days, an easily accessible user-friendly website and social media.
- Proactively involve specific target groups (e.g., ECIs, students from Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs)), women, and teams from countries/regions with less capacity in the field of this Action.
- Proactively involve specific target groups (e.g., ECIs, students from Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs)), women, and teams from countries/regions with less capacity in the field of this Action.
- Enlarge the network by involving external experts (outside the network) in network activities, i.e., invitation to present talks, lectures and webinars.
