CTA Foundation powers lives. Through our extensive and dynamic network, we bring technology to those most in need — seniors and people with disabilities. It's more than just devices, giving people freedom, independence, purpose and most importantly, vital connections.
Guest: ✨ Steve Ewell, Executive Director, Consumer Technology Association Foundation [@CTAFoundation]
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveewell/
On Twitter | https://twitter.com/ctafoundation
On Instagram | https://www.threads.net/@steve.ewell
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Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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Episode Introduction
The world of technology is vast and ever-evolving, constantly pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Yet, one crucial aspect that often goes overlooked is accessibility. However, this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) put a significant spotlight on this aspect, redefining perspectives on technology as an enabler for all individuals, including those with disabilities and the aging population.
Accessibility at the Forefront
In an enlightening conversation between Marco Ciappelli and Steve Ewell, Executive Director of the CTA Foundation, the focus shifted to how technology can bridge gaps in accessibility. Steve shared how the CTA Foundation, a charitable arm of the Consumer Technology Association, is leveraging CES to showcase advancements in accessibility. From smart home technologies to over-the-counter hearing aids, CES has become a platform not just for innovation but for inclusivity.
Innovations That Matter
During the conversation, Steve highlighted several groundbreaking technologies showcased at CES that promise to make a significant impact on accessibility. Among these was the introduction of over-the-counter hearing aids, making this crucial tool more affordable and accessible. Another highlight was the development of smart glasses with built-in hearing aid functionality, offering an innovative solution for those with hearing impairments.
CES also shone a spotlight on robotics for caregiving, wearables for health monitoring, and technologies aiming to make everyday life more navigable for everyone, regardless of their age or abilities. These advancements underscore the importance of technology in creating a more inclusive world.
A Community Effort
One of the recurring themes in Steve and Marco's discussion was the power of collaboration. The CTA Foundation actively brings together investors, startups, non-profits, and policymakers to foster innovation in accessibility. From pitch competitions to accessibility roundtables, CES is more than just a tech show; it's a community coming together to redefine the future of inclusive technology.
Looking Forward
As we look to the future, the conversation between Marco and Steve serves as a reminder of the role technology plays in redefining society. It's not just about the next big gadget or the coolest innovation; it's about how these advancements can improve lives, enhance connectivity, and ensure everyone, regardless of their limitations, can benefit from the digital revolution. The dialogue from CES gives hope and excitement for what's on the horizon, demonstrating that technology, when leveraged thoughtfully, can be a true force for good in making our world more accessible to all.
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Resources
CTA Foundation: https://www.cta.tech/Who-We-Are/CTA-Foundation
CTA Foundation CES 2024 Pitch Contest: https://www.cta.tech/Who-We-Are/CTA-Foundation/Pitch-Competition
Eureka Park Accessibility Contest: https://www.cta.tech/Who-We-Are/CTA-Foundation/Eureka-Park-Accessibility-Contest
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To see and hear more Redefining Society stories on ITSPmagazine, visit:
https://www.itspmagazine.com/redefining-society-podcast
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Bridging Technology and Accessibility: Insights from CES with Executive Director of the Consumer Technology Association Foundation, Stephen Ewell | Redefining Society with Marco Ciappelli
Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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Marco Ciappelli: [00:00:00] All right, everybody. This is Marco Ciappelli. Welcome to the show today. I am standing, which is kind of new, but I guess my back is asking me to do so for those watching. For those listening, you don't really care what I'm doing. Important is that I have a good conversation, and I'm sure that today is going to be a really good conversation.
We're kind of going back to CES, like we didn't talk about that enough in January. And, uh, we're actually going to do something that it's not something that we touched on during our coverage, which is talking about the, , CTA Foundation. And we're going to do that with the Executive Director of the Consumer Technology Association Foundation, steve Ewell. It's here with us, and as an Italian, there's a good chance I mispronounce, or maybe not. In any case, welcome to the show, Steve.
Stephen Ewell: That was perfect, and thank you so much for having me, [00:01:00] Marco. I'm thrilled to be here, and yes, always happy to talk CES, and particularly talk about some of the work that we're doing.
We have going on with the CTA foundation.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. Well, why don't we just start there, a little introduction about yourself and what the foundation, uh, is, uh, is all about.
Stephen Ewell: Absolutely. So the CTA foundation is the Consumer Technology Association Foundation, as you uh mentioned. Uh, we are the charitable arm of the Consumer Technology Association.
So they are a trade association that represents around 1300 technology companies and is probably best known for running CES. Well, about 12 years ago, we started this foundation as a way to give back on behalf of the industry. And when we were doing that, we looked around at what topics we should cover.
Uh, there's a lot of, uh, a lot of needs out there in the world. Uh, and a lot of areas that we think that technology can make a big difference in. Uh, but two growing demographics that we [00:02:00] saw both here in the United States, but also around the world were, uh, and people with disabilities. And we really saw an opportunity for technology to make a difference in those space is so our foundation is really focused on building that conversation around how technology can benefit older adults and people with disabilities.
Uh, we do that. Throughout the year, uh, certainly CES is our, our big stage to, uh, call attention to a lot of these issues. And I know we'll get a chance to get into a lot of that, but in addition to that, we do some other activities during the year, you know, I'm a big believer of getting a lot of really smart people in a room, uh, from a lot of different backgrounds and having conversations.
And it's amazing what can come out of that. So we do those types of activities throughout the year. We do opportunities to engage, you know, startups and other programs that are building the types of technologies that we're looking for, you know, being able to be that, uh, [00:03:00] recognition of look at some of these cool emerging technologies, but also being that carrot to drive in or attract the companies that maybe are not there.
Doing that work yet, uh, to help them pay attention to the, the opportunities to both do good, but also build a business around it. And the last is we are a foundation. We do fund a number of nonprofit organizations all over the country that are using, uh, our industry's technologies to help older adults and people with disabilities.
So we really see some incredible opportunities here. We see the challenges as well, and that goes to having the conversations. Uh, but. I really am excited about the types of technologies. And then just to step back as far as who I am. I'm, as you said, the executive director of that foundation. We are a small but mighty team.
There's two and a third of us that are focused on this foundation. But, you know, we have incredible support from Well, the Consumer Technology [00:04:00] Association, many members of the industry, different companies and individuals that are supporting our work and making it possible for us to really engage both the industry, but also the nonprofits and other organizations that are doing such amazing good work in the world.
Marco Ciappelli: I love it. I love it. I'm going to make a couple of comments. I mean, one. Is that during CES, I had the opportunity to talk with Brian Kaminsky, which is the thematic choices director, and it was kind of fun to get into how do you actually pick what are the themes that you're going to go with this year?
And of course, AI was an easy one, but you know, there are many others as CES Pretty much everything and I started saying after a few conversation that it's not just technology is a place where you see the future and I think you may, you may agree with that. The other thing you said you like to sit on a room full of smart people.
I love to do that and be the dumbest of them so I can actually learn from them. [00:05:00] And, um, I'm going to connect the things with, uh, with Brian and what is kind of like the, the magic formula that make you decide nowadays to go on a certain topic, let's say, uh, kind of disability or audience that, that you want to focus, because I mean, imagine that.
There is a lot of choice.
Stephen Ewell: Yeah, there's absolutely a lot of choice. And part of the reason we really focused in on both the disability community and the aging community is the demographic shifts that we're seeing. I mean, there are now. Here in the U. S., more people over the age of 65 than there are under the age of five.
And that's gonna, you know, a shift that's going to continue to grow for several years now. And you're looking at, depending on how you define disability, you know, up to 20 percent [00:06:00] of the population has some form of disability. So, you know, we see, You know, these numbers continuing to grow, but we also see the opportunity for technology to make a difference.
You know, one of the challenges with that demographic shift is we don't have enough caregivers, uh, to take care of us as we're aging. So I'm not a believer in taking the people out of the system. You know, we need Those personal connections. Um, but if we don't have enough people to care for us as we're aging or care for us, if we have a disability, whether a temporary disability or a permanent one, uh, technology can be an incredible tool to step in and help in those, uh, aspects.
And you mentioned, uh, you know, some of the things I'm sure Brian, uh, highlighted, uh, you know, You know, some of the themes across certainly AI was massive, but you know, you look at the smart home technology, you look at the vehicle technology, you look at, you know, pretty much everything across the show [00:07:00] has a conversation piece around how is it making a difference in this space?
Um, so that's why, you know, we used to talk about, okay, we're going to have, you know, accessibility area, the show floor, and we'll stick it, you know, wherever. Then we realized, you know, It's not one piece of CES. It really is a conversation from one side of the show to the next. And that's really what excited me this year is because.
We put a ton of programs together at CES and we try to drive some of these conversations, but it wasn't just us this year. There was, you know, you go to Samsung, you go to LG, you go to, you know, so many different companies across the show floor were showcasing the types of technologies and doing it in a, you know, not one little corner of their, their booth, but, you know, a massive area of, you know, You know, look at the type of accessibility that we're building into our products because not only is that going to, you know, help, uh, you know, different demographics, but it's really [00:08:00] beneficial to so many of us.
I mean, how many of us, uh, watch things with captions on now or, or use other, uh, types of solutions. If you're, you know, scrolling through a social media, but having those captions and descriptions and things like that, it really is beneficial to a massive audience.
Marco Ciappelli: And do you feel like because when I look back, I don't know, 15, 20 years ago, or even I can date myself even 40 years ago, technology was different.
You know, that was the analog piece was limited, maybe it's more mechanical. And then we got the shift into digital now AI. And I guess one of the thing that is happening now more than ever is the integration of one technology with another. That brings you to the next level. I'm thinking, I mean, some define that as the fifth or fourth revolution.
I think I lost the count on what revolution that's, uh, is going to be, but the fact that, oh, batteries now can be so small that are also rechargeable, but also [00:09:00] much more powerful that I can power a tech piece that I couldn't even imagine that before. So what's your take on that as that mixing? Things together and focusing on visibility, which I think is, it's very, very important.
Stephen Ewell: Yeah, absolutely. And you think about it as, you know, you combine the, the wearable devices that are out there that so many of us, you know, whether you're just talking about, you know, something you're wearing on your wrist to your, your glasses, your, your earbuds, your other, uh, you know, wearable products that, you know, smart clothing, things along those lines.
But then tie that in with your smart home. And you're smart city, you're, you know, you're suddenly able to have the technology adapting the environment around you versus you having to fully adapt to, uh, to the environment. Uh, so it's a little bit of that give and take, but, you know, being able to say, you know, I like, you know, my, my house at a certain [00:10:00] temperature and, you know, being able to have it adjust and do that in a, an environmentally.
Uh, friendly way as well of being able to to build some of these rules in build some of these smarts in and that's where a lot of this, uh, you know, AI and machine learning and other pieces are really tying so many different things together, uh, to adapt to to our lives. And that's something that we're seeing certainly in the digital health space as well.
You know, there's so much information that we're able to collect and share. Also building in that personal, uh, personal control over where's your data going? Who are you sharing that with? Do you have the ability to say, yes, I want to share this with my son or daughter. Uh, I don't want this necessarily going out to the whole world though.
So being able to grant some of that personal control Uh, is also a really critical and important part of this as well.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, definitely hear you [00:11:00] touching to privacy, cybersecurity, talking about health care, HIPAA, and all of that, you know, it's, uh, you, you want the technology, but you also kind of want to keep your Humanity, your privacy, uh, so let's get to few of those innovation that really, I don't know, blow your mind.
Stephen Ewell: So, yeah, I mean, well, one that's almost asking me to, you know, pick my favorite children. I just love finding all these, uh, These great technologies. Although I also love going on shows like this and hearing from other people because, you know, that's one of the challenges at CES. I spend way too much time in meetings and talking on panels and things like that.
So I don't always get to see all the cool toys, but, um, now I think there were a few different things that really stood out to me this year. Uh, one of which is a big policy area that CTA has been engaged with over the last few years [00:12:00] is over the counter hearing aids. So you look at, um, you know, the number of people who could use hearing assistance, um, but, you know, just affordability, uh, stigma, other issues along those lines, prevent people from going and getting, uh, these devices.
Well, there were several companies. This is something that, you know, CTA, uh, worked to advocate other partners, you know, AARP and other organizations, uh, work with us. Um, so there was actually a new that was passed and implemented about a year ago here in the U. S. that allows over the counter hearing aids.
So we were starting to see more and more companies coming out. So we saw a company called Concha Labs that had created a version. So once again, for people who are You know, low to moderate hearing loss. This creates a much more affordable solution that they can get access to. Get them used to having the opportunity to use hearing assistance, especially maybe they don't need it 24 [00:13:00] 7, but when you're in that really noisy restaurant and you have no idea what the person across from you is saying, Being able to find the right types of technologies that could work in those spaces.
Another company that was working in that space, Esliura Wixotica, had come out with their, um, uh, essentially eyeglasses, but they had a hearing aid built into the eyeglasses. So what you're looking at, they're able to, and then, you know, if you, if you don't want to look like you have something in your ears as you're talking to people.
It's just built into the eyeglasses and, uh, the audio basically is kind of shot down into your ears. Uh, so just different form factors, giving people those kinds of choices and options and what they're building. But I mean, we had everything from, you know, we had, uh, uh, uh, Robotics that were helping with caregiving.
A company called Dreamface out of Colorado was doing that. You know, the winner of our pitch competition. We do a [00:14:00] big pitch competition every year at CES. This year was focused on kind of health tech, things that can kind of help people be well. And actually the winner of that, based on our judges, was a company called Augmental.
And they have what looks like a retainer, but essentially it allows you to control Your computer or your, uh, you know, your phone, other, other different solutions. So they were talking about the opportunities in different types of environments to give people control if they don't have full access to their, their limbs and other, uh, uh, um, You know, accessibility features along those lines.
And then the audience choice winner was this company called proxy health that, uh, has a really cool technology to help care planning. So essentially I was talking about earlier, the, you know, the lack of the number of caregivers that we have, but then one of the challenges is between those professional caregivers, your family and others.
Like, how do you pull all that together? And how do you [00:15:00] create that kind of plan? So they've got a really, uh, cool solution in that place. Uh, we actually had a sponsor we worked with called the Patient Safety Technology Challenge that actually also awarded, uh, Proxy Health, uh, uh, uh, award for their, uh, pitch, uh, around, uh, COVID 19.
Patient safety and connection. So, uh, you know, there were just so many really cool technologies this year at the show, uh, that could really impact the way that we all kind of, I like to say, live, work and play. Uh, you know, I want to be able to live work and play as independently as possible for as long as possible.
And I think technology is a tool that can help us get there.
Marco Ciappelli: Absolutely. And, and this reconnects to the question that I had at the beginning, which is in within the realm of of seniors and, and people with disabilities. When you do the challenge, do you, do you have certain standards that you say, okay, this year we're going to look into companies that [00:16:00] are focusing on this particular kind of solution, or is it open to everything and then is an after So to say, all right, of all this variety, what is going on?
Um, it's kind of really connected with the thematic. Like, how do you know before where you're going to focus? How do you read the future?
Stephen Ewell: Yeah. Well, if I could predict the future, uh, you know, that's what I'm still working on.
Marco Ciappelli: There's a technology for that.
Stephen Ewell: Yeah. We're, we're still working on that one. Uh, but it's a mix.
So, you know, certainly, you know, Things like our pitch competition and other activities like that will pick a theme. So, like I said, this year was healthcare. We've done, you know, social connection. We've done recreation. We've done sports tech. We've done other types of areas that, uh, you know, Big, broad themes where we can get a variety of different types of technologies together, uh, but looking at some of the trends that we're seeing [00:17:00] as an industry.
Um, and that's where some of, you know, CTA's market research team and the, uh, the index team, uh, Brian and, and his folks, uh, really are doing some incredible work looking at some of the trends that we're seeing across the industry. But we also go out and To some of the experts that are out in the nonprofit community and in the service community.
So we'll talk to, um, you know, senior housing communities. We'll talk to the advocate organizations that work with different types of disabilities, uh, to see what are some of the trends that they're seeing? What are some of the challenges they're seeing? Because, you know, they're on the ground day to day.
So they'll be able to bring some of that back to us. That's also something that we think is really important. We bring a number of those advocates to CES so that they are meeting with the companies throughout the week. And we've actually seen opportunities where, especially with some of the startup companies, they'll, you know, Make tweaks to some of their products based on [00:18:00] some of these meetings of, Hey, I never thought about if I just made this little tweak here, you know, all of a sudden there's an entire new population that I haven't been able to serve.
But you know, if I'm, if I'm making my device work really well for them, chances are, they're going to be very dedicated consumers to, uh, to this product. So being able to have people with disabilities, Meeting with companies is really important for us as well, because that helps us have a better understanding of where are those challenges, where are those opportunities, and that will shape what we're doing moving forward.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, yeah. Do you guys deal also, I mean not deal, but do you feel like what you do is also motivating maybe, The legislator to look at something that maybe, you know, they could promote from a political perspective from a government where we connect maybe with smart cities that, you know, we didn't know there was this technology that could do this will be great [00:19:00] if we implemented in our public facilities, for example.
So do you do that connection as well?
Stephen Ewell: So there's a little bit because we're a charitable foundation, uh, we don't get directly involved with lobbying. Um, so, but we do help with creating some of the content, creating some of the education sessions, uh, other areas along those lines. Uh, certainly, as I mentioned, you know, CTA is very involved.
Uh, they do have, uh, a lobbying team. That's an incredible group that's, uh, actively engaged, uh, uh, with both, uh, you know, Members of Congress and their, their staffs with, uh, regulatory agencies and, and others. So, you know, they do a lot of work, uh, helping, uh, to, to educate around some of these issues. And that leads to some of that work, like the over the counter hearing aid, uh, uh, act that was able to be passed and create an entire new category of technology that can help to serve the people that we're, we're serving.[00:20:00]
Uh, but we also do activities throughout the year where, you know, we'll have, you know, we'll engage with other government partners and others to just, you know, raise awareness of, okay, where are some of the challenges? How can we all better work together to create the types of solutions that can best serve the, you know, ultimately my goal is I want consumers to be able to find the right product that is going to help them.
Um, uh, you know, as a. As a charitable foundation, I'm not out there, uh, you know, selling any particular product or anything like that. You know, I'm a geek. I love playing with technology. So, uh, that's kind of what it drew me to this, but, uh, you know, ultimately what we want to do is help the industry have the best products out there and help consumers Become aware of what's out there and, you know, find the types of products that best work for them.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I usually have this thing when I talk about cyber security, but technology as well. It's not just about the blinking light and [00:21:00] the funny noises and what is cool or what is possible, right? Okay, we shouldn't just do things because they're possible. We should do it because they'd improve our lives, our society.
And I feel like, you know, obviously, as an organization, as a foundation, that's, you don't even have to pretend like, you know, that's, that's, that's your goal. Um, so what do you guys do throughout the year? Are you just preparing for the next CES or what is that is ongoing? I would love to know a little bit about that.
Stephen Ewell: Yeah, so I mean, yeah, it's amazing how you move for what from one CES right into planning for the next one So there is absolutely conversations going on right now about you know, how can we build off the success of this past one? But we actually move straight into as I said, we are a grant making organization.
So right now I have 68 proposals from non profits all over the country that are sitting on my [00:22:00] computer and I and quite a few of my board members and others are going through and reviewing those so we will later this spring Announce some funding for different non profit organizations So that's kind of my immediate post CES is getting some of these resources out uh to a wide variety of different companies So that's kind of a big piece, but then we'll do other activities.
Um, you know, we've held meetings here in D. C. We go out to other conferences and conventions to help work with different partners around, you know, continuing to highlight the types of needs that are out there, the types of technologies. Build the right types of relationships. Um, and yeah, well, by the time we get, uh, mid summer, it's, uh, you know, complete, uh, focus on how do we build up towards, uh, CES again.
Uh, the good news is, I mean, this year was just, Uh, really incredible [00:23:00] show on, on these issues. So we're already getting, if actually, if anything, my biggest challenge now is everyone's coming to us and saying, Oh, can we do this? And can we do that? And it's like, Oh, I would love to do all this. Now I just have to figure out, uh, you know, where to find the time to make all of that happen.
Uh, but that's a good problem to have. Uh, I'm happy to deal with that.
Marco Ciappelli: It is a good problem to have. And when I was reading the newsletter. Uh, that I, that actually then led me to get in touch with you. There was, uh, the accessibility roundtable. So you had like this kind of meeting, the pitch competition.
I'm kind of scrolling through that, but then you, you have a couple of tour that you did, uh, I believe during the event, uh, anything in particular to, to talk about in terms of those?
Stephen Ewell: Yeah, so there's kind of, well, actually there were kind of three tours that we did this year, two of which probably showed up in the newsletter.
One of which it's the first time we've ever [00:24:00] done this. We did a media tour. So this was a chance for us to engage the media. Our comms team would probably give me a more accurate count, but it was probably, you know, a dozen or so, you know, 15 people maybe, uh, of different, uh, you know. Different news, uh, both, um, uh, international BBC was part of it.
Uh, quite a few of kind of the U S uh, you know, kind of major brands, uh, and others that were a part of that, uh, uh, group. And, you know, we had a chance to hit some of the, we hit a few startups that were working in the, uh, Accessibility space and then we hit some of the larger companies that were working in the accessibility space We're able to just give a very high level We told them right off the bat You know, we didn't we weren't going to hit every accessibility story at the show But being able to give them a very high level and then Allow them to kind of go back and capture [00:25:00] some additional stories there.
So that was, uh, I thought a great success for our first time out, uh, doing that kind of tour. And I think that's something that I do want to continue to build. I want to be on it next year. Great. I will make sure, uh, make sure we get you there. So, uh, we'd love to have you take part in that. And then, you know, the next piece is something that we've been building up for a couple of years now, and that is what we call our funders tour.
Um, and I started this because, you know, when we started the foundation, I started reaching out to other foundations in the space and I got a lot of like, what are, what's the technology world doing? and aging and disability. Uh, so it's been, uh, you know, 12 years or so of, uh, working with different foundations and, you know, helping to, you know, share where there's opportunities in this space.
So we started doing this tour as an opportunity to bring other foundations in, um, and, you know, I'm not expecting them to become VCs. They're [00:26:00] not investing in the companies, but if they're doing Uh, food security or housing security, or, you know, you name the charitable program, being aware of what some of the trends are in the technology world that they can get from CES, um, gives them an opportunity to go back and better place their, their funding, uh, so that they can make a, uh, you know, bigger difference, uh, just knowing, you know, what are some of the tools out there that they might be able to use?
And then, you know, I also look at it as an opportunity of, you know, Where are there opportunities for all these foundations to work together and, you know, rather than have, you know, You know, we're off funding one program and someone else is funding a completely different program and, you know, all with the same goals.
Where are there opportunities for us to bring that together? Uh, and then this year it used to be called the Grantmakers Tour. We changed it to the Funders Tour because we actually did have several, you know, VCs and other types of funders who are very interested in [00:27:00] joining this tour, um, and meeting and seeing some of these same trends.
So. That's one of the next pieces of conversation that we're having is, you know, Between someone who's investing, you know, charitable dollars, uh, from a foundation perspective and someone who's a, you know, VC or other investor, you know, they're obviously looking for a return on their funding, but we're all interested in the types of technologies that are working in this space.
I don't know that we have an answer for exactly how those relationships can go, but that's something that we had a little bit of a conversation on, uh, this year at the show. And then the last piece is we do, you know, All of our grant recipients and others. We had, uh, one of our, uh, members and, and supporters offer to, to do a tour and bring them around the various aspects of the show.
So, uh, that's something that I think is important for the groups that we support to have an opportunity to be at CES and see some of these trends as well. Cause. It will help with the programs that they're doing. So [00:28:00] yeah, the tours are a very important piece for us, uh, cause it's a way to, for us to engage our partners.
And that actually leads into the last piece you mentioned, um. The accessibility roundtable that we do. Yes. And this is something that we've been doing for years and years. It started as probably half a dozen people just sitting on one of those couches in the hall at CES talking about like, what were we seeing around accessibility?
And then, you know, this year, uh, I used to always cap this event at 50 people. Cause I felt like, how can you have a conversation with everyone if it's more, Even 50 people is a lot of people to have in a room to have a conversation this year. They talked me into, uh, lifting that cap, uh, and well, I kept it at 75, which meant we actually had about 85 to 90 people in the room.
Uh, you know, Because, you know, when you tell people it's sold out and there's a waiting list, they, they tend to show up anyways, uh, and work their way into the room. So [00:29:00] it shows the level of interest. And once again, this year, the topic was, uh, two topics, really one of which was AI. And accessibility, you know, what are some of the both the companies and the advocacy organizations, academia, others seeing in this space, and the other was accommodations for people with disabilities in a hybrid workforce.
So, you know, a lot of companies have figured out the types of tools that they can provide when you're sitting in an office. They've figured out the tools they can provide when you're sitting at home, full time working. Um, but what happens when you're moving back and forth between those two? So it was an interesting conversation.
Once again, I don't know that we've solved these problems yet. Uh, but once again, I just, I really love. Seeing some of the conversation that goes on, seeing the different points of view. Uh, cause we've really had a everything from brand new startups to some of the biggest global brands in the world, uh, to, you know, [00:30:00] regional, uh, nonprofit organizations, big, you know, big brands.
Uh, global, uh, nonprofit organizations as well, and just a real interesting mix of, uh, diverse backgrounds that I thought it was really interesting conversation. And that's something that we're working on. How do we continue to build off that? Um, bring those, uh, interesting people together. And ultimately, I think that's going to help us account accomplish our mission.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, absolutely. And I'm a big fan of, uh, we may not have the solution, but we're making people think, which is pretty much what I try to do with this show. And, I asked some questions and sometimes we have more than, than when we started, but that's a good thing. And I love the fact you're putting people together, different foundation together, organization.
It comes together to what we talk at the beginning with different kind of technology come together and all of a sudden, what was, Impossible. Now it's, it's possible. Like, and I think as you do that with technology, as you [00:31:00] do that with people as well, and you never know what the venture capitalist is going to invest in two companies that you can see that in the future, they could bring their force together and, you know, If you guys are there to do this, it's just amazing, especially for, uh, disability.
So I've started this thing on redefining society is the name of the show. I think that redefining, uh, technology as a people enabler, it's a great thing, but I would like to know your opinion if you had to redefine something in our When it comes to technology, what is will be the first thing that the most important thing that you think we need to kind of change perspective towards?
Stephen Ewell: I think it's that relationship between the people and the technology of, you know, you, you see. You know, people who are kind of anti technology, it's all on, you know, [00:32:00] the people, you know, we need to be able to do everything ourselves. You see the people who are automate everything and, you know, the machines will take care of us all, uh, in the future.
And the answer is really, I think somewhere in the middle there, uh, you know, the technology is an incredible tool, but, you know, people are, you know, we're social animal, even me. Yeah, I'm a. I'm an introvert. I'm perfectly happy, uh, running off into the corner, especially after seeing as many people as I see at CES, but, uh, but we need that social connection.
We need to be able to create these types of connections and the technology is a tool to help service that. So it's finding that proper balance. Um, so I think that is, Being able to define how we work together with technology and what areas technology can make a massive difference to us. Um, and what areas, you know, [00:33:00] we need to stay, uh, in control over.
Uh, I think there's a lot of interesting conversations going on around that, especially given the AI these days. But, um, I think that we're going to see a lot of changes in this space, but also a lot of great opportunities as well.
Marco Ciappelli: And you sum it up perfectly by, you can't be on the extreme, it's no AI, yes AI, it's a tool, and we need to, like everything else, right, we need to use it.
And, you know, let's have guard rail and control it as much as we can, but at least, uh, to serve our society. So I completely agree with you. I appreciate you sharing this vision with us and with the audience. And to close, if everybody wants to know about more about the foundation and get in touch with you, of course, there will be notes in the chat.
In the podcast right below, or if you're watching the video in the YouTube [00:34:00] channel and yeah, subscribe, get interested and, um, keep thinking, that's, that's what I like to say. Steve, so grateful to have you on. And, uh, I honestly. I want to make it next year to see us. And, uh, and I hope that then we can have also this conversation again and see how much even bigger your events are.
Stephen Ewell: Well, Marco, I really appreciate you having me on for this conversation and your work covering these issues. Uh, it really is. It's. It's critical to get the messages out there and help share the conversations that are going on. So thank you for your work in that space. And, uh, yeah, I can't wait to, uh, hopefully see you at CES next year.
Marco Ciappelli: I am looking forward and planning on that. And for everybody else, stay tuned, subscribe, and, uh, definitely stay curious. This is what, uh, we love to see. Take care, everybody. [00:35:00] Thank you, Steve.