Disability, technology innovation and social development in China and Australia

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the turn to technology innovation in disability policy, as it has manifested in the accessibility and digital inclusion agendas in China and Australia. It provides a review of the disability policy changes and related initiatives in both countries to offer insights for broader discussions of digital technology innovation and social policy in Asia. We argue that while governments take pivotal roles in formulating and implementing digital disability policies, people with disabilities apply their own agency to take advantage of market opportunities through economic participation in digital economy. The state responds positively to the agency of people with disabilities in social development and participation by opening opportunities for research grants, start-up funds, publicities and policy lobbying. It is here we see the hope in such a collaborative and mutually constitutive approach to innovative social policies that aim at inclusive and sustainable growth – something that deserves concerted, comparative research and evaluation by policy scholars.

KEYWORDS:

• Disability
• digital economy
• innovation
• technology
• social development
• China social policy
• Australia social policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. An interesting future topic for systematic investigation is the differential rate of such adoption of digital technology by people across different disability cohorts and types, as well as in combination with other social categories and markers of disadvantage; also how such adoption varies across non-disabled counterparts.

2. A more systematic, longitudinal and cross-platform quantitative research is needed to show the evolving status of e-commerce in the lives of disabled people in China. It is beyond the scope and capacity of this paper to provide such an analysis.

3. For a critique on China’s e-commerce and digital economy from a sociocultural perspective, see the special issue on ‘Grassroots Makers of China’s e-commerce Miracle’ in China Perspectives edited by Yu (2017).

4. China has a 1.5%disability employment quota system that is imposed on all employers with over 20 staff. Employers who do not meet such a quota pay a levy to the Disabled Persons Employment Security Fund, which is managed by CDPF. The fund is to be used to provide employment services to disabled people and their employers, respectively.

5. The discussion on OPO is based on public available data as well as our fieldwork and interview with its two founders Gao Shan and Cai Cong at its Shanghai branch.

6. http://www.yijiayi.org/en/index.php?catid=19.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the UNSW Collaborative Research Grant 2017.

Notes on contributors

Gerard Goggin

Gerard Goggin is the inaugural Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on social, cultural, and political aspects of digital technologies, especially the Internet and mobile media and communication, and disability and accessibility. He has published 20 books and over 170 journal articles and book chapters.

Haiqing Yu

Haiqing Yu is Associate Professor and Vice-Chancellor’s Principal Research Fellow in the School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Australia. She researches the sociopolitical and economic impact of China’s digital media, communication, and culture on China, Australia and the Asia Pacific; and is currently working on projects related to China’s digital expansion in Asia, Chinese-language digital/social media in Australia, and digital economies of disability.

Karen R Fisher

Karen R. Fisheris a Professor at the Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Sydney. Her research interests are the organisation of social services in Australia and China, particularly disability and mental health services, policy process and inclusive research.

Bingqin Li

Bingqin Li is Director of Chinese Social Policy Program, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales. Her research is on social policy and governance. Her current projects include governance of age-friendly community, local government motivation in delivering complex social programs, social inclusion and integration, urban governance, and social spending.