Technology Innovation for Persons With Disabilities in Brazil

Abstract

The results of the Brazilian Census 2010 show that of a total population of 193 million people, approximately 46 million people of Brazil's total population have some kind of disability. Brazil is one of the world's leading IT markets and the largest IT market in Latin America. This chapter presents a program started by the Government of the State of Sao Paulo through its Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SEDPcD) in 2013 that aims to promote the rehabilitation and social inclusion of persons with disabilities. Adopting the application of the concept and instruments of the knowledge economy as core strategy and through the application of ICT-based assistive technologies, the program develops solutions to a level where they can be applied massively in a cost-effective way.