NewWorkTech Co-Creation Events: 'Nothing About Us Without Us'

As part of the NewWorkTech project – From the margins to the masses: Standard practices and innovative uses of technology in augmenting different abilities of people in the world of work – the CNR-IRPPS held four co-creation events (both in-person and online) between September and October 2025 to gather opinions and insights on the different needs of people with disabilities in the workplace regarding their interaction with technology. The events were organised and moderated by Tiziana Guzzo and Maria Chiara Caschera and involved various stakeholders, including people with disabilities (intellectual, visual, physical, and hearing), associations, educators, technology experts, and policy makers.

The European NewWorkTech project aims to explore how technology can enhance the work-related abilities of people with sensory, physical, and intellectual disabilities. The primary goal is to translate this knowledge into practical outcomes: technologically advanced solutions, new theoretical frameworks, ethical issues, policy recommendations, and practical knowledge accessible to the wider community.

The first co-creation event took place on September 23, 2025, involving people with intellectual disabilities, staff from the AIPD (Italian Association of People with Down Syndrome), staff and representatives from ANFFAS (Italian Association of People with Down Syndrome) and Séfora Impresa Sociale Anffas, the Disability Manager of the Bank of Italy, the Prevention and Protection Unit of the CNR (National Research Council), and the University of Copenhagen.

A group of workers with visual impairments participated in the second event on September 25, 2025, alongside local representatives of UICI (Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted), technology experts from S. Alessio Margherita di Savoia (Company for Services to the Visually Impaired), the Prevention and Protection Unit of the CNR (National Research Council), the State Institute "Augusto Romagnoli" of Rome for Specialization of Educators of the Visually Impaired, and the Disability Manager of the Bank of Italy.

The third co-creation event, held on October 7, 2025, was attended by people with physical disabilities, FISH Lazio (Italian Federation for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Families), the Center for Autonomy and Self-Determination, the University of Copenhagen, the Prevention and Protection Unit of the CNR (National Research Council), and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National Center for Innovative Technologies in Public Health – TISP).

Finally, the fourth co-creation event took place on October 16, 2025, involving several people with hearing impairments, the Kairos Association, the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC – CNR), the Bank of Italy's Disability Manager, and the CNR's Prevention and Protection Unit.

During the events, through a participatory design process "with and for" people with disabilities, participants provided ideas, needs, and concrete proposals on the use, limitations, and challenges of technology in the workplace.

The resulting feedback will contribute to the definition of guidelines for the development of more accessible and inclusive technologies that truly meet the needs expressed by users, in accordance with the fundamental principle: "Nothing about us without us."

The original article (in Italian) is accessible here.