Reflections from Our CEO, Technology & Products

Thinking Big on How Technology Could Shape a More Inclusive and Accessible Future for All

Vincenzo Piscopo
Vincenzo Piscopo
President & CEO
United Spinal Association

With family in Venezuela and Italy, you can imagine how much of a godsend the tech revolution has been for me. Technology is able to facilitate communication in a more sophisticated way than I ever could have imagined.

For many people, however, the true benefits of technology still remain unrealized. Even for those who have access to the latest and greatest devices and services and are tech-savvy, there is still tremendous potential in technology that remains dormant because the industry has not caught up—yet. That’s where a strong organization, advocacy and raising awareness comes in.

For people with disabilities, technology could be the bridge to a truly inclusive society. It fosters community and solidarity and allows access to vital services and supports for our community. Autonomous vehicles designed with the input of people with disabilities could help further eliminate barriers. As I discussed in a previous blog, cloud computing and advances in communications software have opened the doors to job opportunities that were previously unavailable to wheelchair users. This also extends to obtaining a quality education. Overall, technology has the potential to impact and improve every aspect of our lives. But we all need access.

According to the Pew Research Center, if you have a disability you are still three times as likely to never go online. Other metrics are similarly stagnant and suggestive of changes that need to happen now for our community. Adults with disabilities are roughly 18 percentage points less likely to say they subscribe to home broadband or own a traditional computer, a smartphone and a tablet.

The digital divide separates us in other ways as well. Broadband access is strikingly different in rural versus urban areas (including underserved urban areas), and, of course, racial and class disparities continue to stand in the way.

For our community as a whole, accessibility has a twofold meaning. We celebrate when companies do their due diligence for the disability community and make products that everyone can use, but we thrive when everyone is able to afford them.

In the past year, there have been important breakthroughs to build on. Our community and the wider disability community has the power to turn these developments into real positive change.

One silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic is that access to healthcare has expanded due to telemedicine. It is important that we continue to advocate for the permanent extension of Medicare reimbursement for telemedicine, applying to healthcare providers such as physical and occupational therapists and other licensed healthcare personnel. It is also important that we support the CONNECT for Health Act, the Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act, the Keep Our Access to Telehealth for Physical and Occupational Therapy Act, all of which expand the use of telehealth permanently under Medicare as well as the Advanced Safe Testing at Residence Telehealth (A-START) Act of 2021, which expands the use of telehealth, remote patient monitoring, digital therapeutics and other connected health programs under Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It is also important that we support legislation that expands the use of telehealth, remote patient monitoring, digital therapeutics and other connected health programs under Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In order to obtain these vital services, we need adequate broadband service. Especially for people with disabilities, obtaining healthcare and thriving in work and education during the COVID-19 pandemic has been greatly enhanced for those fortunate enough to have access to broadband service. United Spinal is advocating for federal policy and funding for universal broadband.

Eagerly anticipated changes are on the way. Last month, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) which provides another $65 billion in funding for broadband construction. That $65 billion has four goals:

  • It helps build out the broadband network
  • It allows for monthly broadband costs to households more affordable by giving low-income households a monthly subsidy
  • It requires a long-range broadband plan and almost $3 billion to help with digital literacy per the Digital Equity Act of 2021.

Additionally, $14.25 billion is dedicated to fund a $30 per month subsidy for low-income Americans to purchase broadband, making it more affordable.

This program builds on the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program created by Congress last year to help families afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new law requires the FCC to report on how to improve “its effectiveness in achieving the universal service goals for broadband.” United Spinal has been partnering with the FCC to promote this program and support its efforts to expand access. We will continue monitoring the situation to make sure our community is served.

Looking to the future, widespread adoption of broadband will also play a role in expanding autonomous transportation networks and delivery services. We will continue to cultivate partnerships, organize community input into the development process, and advocate for the universal design of autonomous vehicles. Universal broadband will also open the door to greater access to smart home technology, which in turns benefits our community.

With this infrastructure in place, there should be no excuse not to serve people with disabilities, who make up 20 percent of the US population. However, in order to accomplish this, we also need a seat at the table in the private sector. We need to be included in the product development process from start to finish to avoid costly and needless retrofitting. We need authentic voices to get the word out. We need cooperation to close the gap that inaccessible technology creates—before it becomes an untraversable gulf.

While we should continue collectively dreaming and thinking big about what a world with smart homes, autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, and improved motion tracking, voice recognition and capacitive touchscreens everywhere will mean for the spinal cord injury and disorder (SCI/D) community, we need to work collectively to make sure the fundamentals are in place—and that is where United Spinal’s Tech Access Initiative comes in. It is our vehicle to help make technology the means for a more inclusive and accessible future for all.