CDA’s smart thinking helps differently abled in Dubai

Today, we are seeing more and more differently-abled people successfully engaging in full and part-time employment

While living with a disability may leave simple daily tasks feeling more like a chore, Dubai’s Community Development Authority (CDA) has taken the bull by the horns when it comes to technology, and it’s that smart thinking that is making the differently-abled community in Dubai shine through.
There was once a time in Dubai when many would agree that the country’s elderly and differently-abled population were a forgotten community, but not anymore. That once-forgotten demographic is now empowered — and it has been the forward thinking outlook of the CDA and Smart Dubai that has spurred on that empowerment drive.
In 2013, when Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, launched the ‘My Community... A City For Everyone’ initiative to transform Dubai into a disabled-friendly city by the year 2020, what followed next was a change for good.
Since then, the CDA has launched a family of smart applications to allow its clients to reach services round-the-clock. A feat which the authority’s former Director-General pitted as one of its biggest achievements to date.
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From ‘Dubai Volunteer’ which opens the doors to all who wish to help others in their community — including the elderly and differently-abled, to the ‘SanadRelay App’ which enables hearing-impaired users to immediately communicate through video calls with sign language specialists when out in the community, this digital drive has empowered its users.
Today, we are seeing more and more differently-abled people successfully engaging in full and part-time employment, thanks to this drive in assistive technology and applications, from bank workers to authors and photographers to RJs.
So as the CDA continues to push forward their portfolio of smart applications, it will only continue to widen this community engagement.
Kelly@khaleejtimes.com
@KellyAnn_Clarke