MTE at the European Parliament STOA workshop on Assistive Technologies

Posted on 10.02.2017

On 31 January Tanja Valentin and Neha Dave from the MedTech Europe Secretariat attended the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment  (STOA) workshop on “Assistive Technologies for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Society, Education and Jobs”. The workshop was organised by Ádám Kósa MEP and STOA with a view to making policy recommendations later this year to the European Parliament’s Petition’s Committee which looks at the European Commission’s proposal for a European Accessibility Act. The Commission’s proposal focuses on removing diverging legislation which may impede people with disabilities’ access to goods and services.

The aim of the workshop was to gather key stakeholders together – policymakers from the European Parliament, European Commission and WHO, representatives of Assistive Technologies (AT) users, technology experts and industry – to discuss how AT can be made more accessible to people with disabilities. Key points raised include the importance of taking into account the value chain when assessing technologies, the evolving innovation and use of ATs, the impact ATs have for supporting people with disabilities in schools, work and the community and keeping the AT-user at the centre of future research and development. The workshop provided to be an interesting forum for all stakeholders for an exchange of views and gathering information.