Mada Organization

Mada

Organization

Country of residence

Qatar

Age

Job category

Public Servant

Sector of Activity

Research/University

My top 3 facilitators

Community organizations

To reinforce the Qatar National Vision 2030, Mada Center launched the 2019-2021 strategy under the theme “Digital Access for All”. Through the current strategy, Mada seeks to enhance the ICT accessibility for Persons with Functional Limitations (Persons with Disabilities and the elderly) by fully integrating them into the community, involving them in the development process, and raising awareness of their needs to help build their capabilities and utilize their potential. Through strategic partnerships, the center works to enable the education and culture and community sectors through ICT to achieve an inclusive community and educational system. The Center achieves its goals by building partners' capabilities and supporting the development of and providing accreditation for digital platforms in accordance with international standards of digital access. Mada raises awareness, provides consulting services, and increases Assistive Technology solutions in Arabic through the Mada Innovation

Assistive devices and personal assistance

The Mada Center works to empower persons with disabilities and the elderly and support their independence through technology, In this context, Assistive Technology services are provided to people with disabilities and the elderly through Evaluation and Technical Support Sections, where Mada provides the necessary information, consultations, and technician support for free assistive technology devices and solutions and their uses.
Mada Center offers Remote Technology Assessment Service to support people with disabilities to assess their needs of assistive technology and support services.

Education

Through strategic partnerships, the Center works to enable the education and culture and community sectors through ICT to achieve an inclusive community and educational system. Mada has actively and meaningfully participated in the Qatar IT Conference and Exhibition (QITCOM) and has signed several collaboration agreements and strategic partnerships with many of the country’s leading players in education, culture, and society. In terms of the education sector, Mada Center signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in the fields of education and ICT access, which was signed by the Undersecretary of the MoEHE and the CEO of Mada. The Center also has signed a similar agreement with Hamad Bin Khalifa University, represented by HBKU’s President, furthermore, it made another agreement with Qatar Foundation (Pre-University Education), represented by the Head of Pre-University Education.

My Journey

02.2020

Mada’s AT Glossary

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Coinciding with the celebrations of International Mother Language Day (IMLD), and within the framework of the Mada Innovation Program, which aims to enhance digital access in Arabic language and encourage innovators to provide more technological solutions for persons with disabilities, the Center launches “Mada’s Glossary”, which provides a thorough explanation of main terms related to the field of inclusive ICT access and Assiative Technology (AT) in both Arabic and English.

The main objective of developing the glossary is to promote innovation in Arabic language in various fields of technology as a mother tongue, as it carries culture and the essence of identity. The glossary will provide a list of terms in Arabic and English languages to assist researchers, experts, innovators, users, teachers, students, therapists, and related institutions to understand key terms related to ICT, digital accessibility, and Assistive Technology (AT) in order to achieve the center’s vision.

Mada Center Launches Mada Glossary

Mada Glossary

A screenshot of Mada's Accessibility & AT Glossary website.

A screenshot of Mada's Accessibility & AT Glossary. The screen shows when a user searches for the word "Accessibility".

01.2020

Mada Fablab

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Moreover, supporting and empowering Persons with Disabilities through the development of Mada FabLab. Mada Fablab is an innovative hands-on inclusive technology and digital fabrication space setup at MadaLab. The vision of Mada FabLab is to be referenced internationally as the first FabLab managing, developing, and promoting social innovation processes through digital manufacturing and open knowledge for Persons with Disabilities. The lab supports, promotes, and transforms ideas into products, which allows for the development of high-value local entrepreneurs and businesses for Persons with Disabilities.

Fab labs: Mada Fablab

Mada Fablab: Mada Fab Lab is officially certified by the Lab Foundation

01.2017

Access to Employment

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01.2016

Mada Nafath Publication

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Nafath periodical is a leading source of information for the latest trends, Arabic innovations, and developments in artificial intelligence, devices, and digital solutions related to ICT accessibility. Starting from its role as a global information window, Nafath highlights pioneering work in providing solutions and services of ICT accessibility and AT locally, regionally, and globally. Furthermore, it highlights all that has emerged from the new fourth industrial revolution that has generated a huge scientific and knowledge renaissance for humanity, in general, and for people with functional limitations, in particular, by increasing inventions in various practical fields and facilitating human life in the era of modern technology and artificial intelligence. The periodical articles were written by Mada’s experts with the collaboration of several international experts.

Mada Publication: Nafath Magazine

01.2015

Unified Arabic Braille

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The Unified Arabic Braille project aims to improve the accessibility of people with vision impairment by proposing new 8 dots braille encoding and creating a platform containing Arabic resources for blind persons. According to a survey conducted by Mada, the majority of Blind people think that the current 6dots Arabic braille have many deficiencies and should be updated. In this context, Mada conducted this project in order to reduce the limitations of the current system by updating it and proposing to the community a new 8dots system for computer, literature and science use. The project aims to provide to innovator a tools for creating Arabic Braille based products and provide to bind people a way to read and write scientific contents.

10.2013

Phrase-based Platform for Sign Language

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Mada Sign language framework aims to provide to researchers and computer engineers a platform that offers a set of tools and data useful for processing and analyzing ArSL. Building a labeled database is fundamental to make any innovation in relation to the ArSL. In the first step, Mada will build the first labeled and indexed ArSL corpus containing both video and Mocap data. This content is very important for linguistics and computer researchers to study ArSL and make linguistic and scientific research. It can also be used by engineers to build new tools based on Mada corpus. In order to build this database a Sign Language studio is setup using a dedicated Motion Capture solution that combines handshape, body movements and facial expression tracking.

A Research: Toward a new transcription model in XML for Sign Language Processing based on gloss annotation system

01.2010

National e-Accessibility Policy

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Mada has also played a crucial part in the development of the , a model document for the MENA region that addresses accessibility to websites and mobile apps, telecommunications services, ATMs and public access electronic kiosks, and assistive technologies. Moreover, it includes a special call to action to make digital content accessible, particularly that which is produced in the Arabic language.

01.2006

G3ict – DARE Index

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Mada is a working partner of the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006 by the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development, in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Together with G3ict, Mada monitors the level to which digital accessibility policies are implemented in the State of Qatar. Most recently, Qatar ranked fifth globally in the DARE Index, a global survey that measures the digital accessibility rights of People with Disabilities.

Country Profile Qatar DARE Index

Mada News International Telecommunication Union

My top 3 facilitators

Community organizations

Assistive devices and personal assistance

Education

My Journey

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