Learning-Based Adaptation for Personalized Mobility Assistance

Mobility assistance is of key importance for people with disabilities to remain autonomous in their preferred environments. In severe cases, assistance can be provided by robotized wheelchairs that can perform complex maneuvers and/or correct the user’s commands. User’s acceptance is of key importance, as some users do not like their commands to be modified. This work presents a solution to improve acceptance. It consists of making the robot learn how the user drives so corrections will not be so noticeable to the user. Case Based Reasoning (CBR) is used to acquire a user’s driving model reactive level. Experiments with volunteers at Fondazione Santa Lucia (FSL) have proven that, indeed, this customized approach at assistance increases acceptance by the user.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (MEC), Project TEC2011-29106-C02-01. The authors would like to thank Santa Lucia Hospedale and all volunteers for their kind cooperation and Sauer Medica for providing the power wheelchair

Cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation in the European neighbourhood: Tourism cooperation at the Finnish-Russian border

Knowledge transfer and innovation cooperation between the EU and its neighbours has remained weakly developed. To promote this cooperation, the EU has set up initiatives for the European neighbourhood. The issue has, however, received very limited scholarly attention in the field of tourism. This research gap is addressed here via interview data collected from participants in tourism related EU-funded projects in the Finnish-Russian cross-border region. These underline the importance of EU-funding in facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation between Finland and Russia. While language issues, and differences in business culture and administrative/legislative systems between the two countries, constitute barriers for practical cross-border cooperation, it is cross-border differences in culture and technological capabilities that drive cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation in the cross-border region. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for promoting future cross-border cooperation in innovation and tourism

Assessment to Action: Creating Change - A Report on a Gathering of Foundation CEOs, Trustees, and Senior Executives

In March 2007, more than 225 CEOs, trustees, and senior executives gathered in Chicago to discuss a wide range of important issues: the role of strategy and performance assessment, board functioning and the dynamics of race in the boardroom, and the challenge of inspiring -- and leading -- change. Among the report's 11 articles are highlights and lessons learned from presentations by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MacArthur Foundation President Jonathan Fanton, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor at Harvard Business School, Spelman College President Beverly Tatum, and former Atlantic Philanthropies President and CEO John R. Healy

Working on Disability in Country Programmes

[Excerpt] The World Bank estimates that 20% of the world’s poorest people are disabled. This means that disabled people comprise one of the largest single groups of excluded and chronically poor people in the developing world. Challenging exclusion is central to reducing poverty and meeting the MDGs. So promoting the inclusion, rights and dignity of disabled people is central to poverty reduction and to achieving human rights

United Republic of Tanzania Country Profile

[From Introduction] The country study for the United Republic of Tanzania is part of the ILO project Employment of People with Disabilities – the Impact of Legislation , funded by the Government of Ireland, which aims to enhance the capacity of national governments in selected countries of East Africa and Asia to implement effective legislation concerning the employment of people with disabilities. Starting with a systematic examination of laws in place to promote employment and training opportunities for people with disabilities in the selected countries of each region,1 the project sets out to examine the operation of such legislation, identify the implementation mechanisms in place and suggest improvements. Technical assistance is provided to selected national governments in implementing necessary improvements. This country study outlines the main provisions of the laws in place in the United Republic of Tanzania (Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar) concerning the employment of people with disabilities. An initial review of the implementation of the legislation is also provided, based on a survey of documentary sources, and feedback from Tanzanian delegates to a Technical Consultation held in Addis Ababa, 20-22 May 2002. It may be read in conjunction with the regional overview for this Consultation Employment of People with Disabilities - The Impact of Legislation (East Africa), Technical Consultation Report, Addis Ababa, 20-22 May 2002, ILO 2002

Changing CBR Concepts in Indonesia: Learning from Programme Evaluation

[Excerpt] CBR programmes are founded on basic ideas or concepts that vary significantly between countries and organizations. These ideas and concepts change through time as new information is obtained. Often trial-and-error experiences prove that the initial ideas were wrong. One of the best ways of examining the effectiveness of CBR programmes, and the concepts on which they are based, is through evaluation. This chapter draws on our experiences in Solo, Indonesia at the Community Based Rehabilitation Development and Training Centre (CBRDTC) to describe a process where changes in programmes and concepts have resulted from evaluation. This will hopefully help others to learn ways to change their own ideas, concepts and CBR programmes

Banking Reform in Russia: Problems and Prospects

This paper examines the state of the Russian banking sector in 2004 and assesses the most important reform initiatives of the last two years, including deposit insurance legislation, a major reform of the framework for prudential supervision, steps to increase transparency in the sector, and measures to facilitate the development of specific banking activities. The overall conclusion that emerges from this analysis is that the Russian authorities’ approach to banking reform is to be commended. The design of the reform strategy reflects an awareness of the need for a ‘good fit’ between its major elements, and the main lines of the reform address some of the principal problems of the sector. The major lacuna in the Russian bank reform strategy concerns the future of state-owned banks. Despite a long-standing official commitment to reducing the role of the state – and of the Bank of Russia in particular – in the ownership of credit institutions, there is still a need for a much more clearly defined policy in this area. The real test of Russian banking reform efforts, however, will be in implementation. The reforms challenge numerous vested interests and their successful realisation will require considerable political will as well as the development of regulatory capacities of a very high order