A new innovation centre dedicated to developing skills of children with special needs through their interaction with modern technologies was launched by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) on Thursday.

The first-of-its-kind centre in the region, now part of the Dubai Rehabilitation Centre for the Disabled in Al Ghusais, will enable thousands of students with various disabilities across the country unlock their potential and prove their capabilities in society in the future, a Dewa official has said.

The facility, launched as part of the Year of Giving, is aimed at encouraging innovation and creativity among children with disabilities and integrating them into society.

The Dewa Innovation Centre was officially inaugurated by Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The opening was attended by Najla Mohammad Al Awar, Minister of Community Development, Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of Dewa, and other senior officials.

“It took us six months to establish such an engaging platform,” said Khowla Al Muhairi, vice-president, Marketing and Corporate Communication at Dewa. “The goal was to ensure this segment was included in the society, they understand what is happening at the level of the government and how the government is working to improve their services through adopting new technologies.

She said children with special needs have to be able to understand the impact of these technologies over the next generation of government services because they are eventually going to be the prospective customers. “The centre will help them understand how to deal with certain technologies and innovate themselves.”

Al Muhairi said as a start, the centre will provide over 150 students with disabilities with the required training, but will later start receiving other children with special needs from across other centres in the UAE.

The learning facility, which includes robots, smart boards, a 3D printer, smart books and screens and other interactive equipment, will work to develop creative, academic and behavioural knowledge of students with disabilities. It provides eight different corners that motivate innovation and creativity among students with disabilities, Al Muhairi explained.

“In the Imagination corner, students are able to interact with smart boards to draw their ideas, for instance. In the Junior Innovator corner, they will use their fine motors to assemble things together, while in the Robotic corner, they will learn the basic programming of a robot.”

Through the various technologies used, the centre would also help students with specific disabilities with their educational and personal development.

In the Solar Energy corner, it will teach environmental concepts on sustainability and renewable energy, she added.

The centre also contains the NOW Robot corner, which has an advanced level of programming. It is a 50cm-tall robot that can be programmed using simple language. It can move, walk and talk according to its programming.

The 3D corner contains two state-of-the-art 3D printing machines. Students with disabilities will learn how to print what they want, she said.

“There is also the Dewa’s Smart Services corner which will be giving those students conservation tips and the Reading corner will enhance their skills in listening and reading through the use of interactive platforms,” she said.

Al Muhairi, who mentioned that Dewa has already hired 16 employees with different types of disabilities, said the environment that these children will spend time in would prepare them for the job market

source : gulfnews