Today, more than half of the world’s population is using the internet, which means that cooperation and communication among citizens and between citizens and governments are dramatically changing. However, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a global scenario shows that digital access and its adoption are not designed uniformly or inclusively. In 2018, only 24.4% of Africa’s population was online, while Europe had a 79.6% internet penetration rate. At the same time, in the USA, it is registered at 69.6% (other statistics show that countries in Africa and Asia have driven growth during recent years in mobile cellular subscriptions and mobile broadband subscriptions).
In order to bridge the digital gap, it is essential to create more inclusive and participatory digital communities and spaces, which reinforce affordability while also increasing digital awareness and skills. By gaining more inclusive access to digital content, people can become better able to understand the digital systems which increasingly rely upon producing and delivering services or products related to their needs (health care, education, employment, and civic participation), as well as to easily navigate these digital systems and deal with them more efficiently.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), we are currently living in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) that represents a fundamental change in the way we live, work, and communicate with others. The 4IR is a new chapter in human development, empowered by outstanding technological advances added to the first, second, and third industrial revolutions. These advances are combining the physical, digital, and biological environments; the speed, breadth, and depth of this revolution force us to rethink how countries develop, how organizations create value, and even what it means to be human.
Through this dramatic change, it is essential to understand that the 4IR is not just a technology-driven change. Although its focus seems to be on technology and its advances, it is an enormous opportunity to help and include everyone, where we can join efforts and objectives between leaders, policymakers, and people from all segments of society and nations, to harness converging technologies in order to create an inclusive, human-centered future.
As part of this revolutionary change, a close, strategic relationship developed between information and communication technology and digital manufacturing, which contributes significantly to the use of access to information and communication technology in the field of digital manufacturing and technological innovation that drives development in society. From this standpoint, Mada’s “Fab Lab” endeavors to transform technological ideas into reality and provide a critical role in this ecosystem for innovation by providing more access to technology for facilities and support services that enable entrepreneurs, researchers, and startups, which allows them to convert innovative ideas into practical prototypes for owners and society in general.
Fab Lab is an educational outreach center that started at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), as an extension of its research into digital fabrication and computation. Fab Lab is a technical prototyping space for invention, typically equipped with an array of flexible computer controlled tools that cover several different length scales and various materials, intending to make almost anything, Gershenfeld, Neil A. (2005) considers Fab Lab a platform for learning and innovation; a place to play, to create, to learn, to mentor, and to invent.
Fab Lab can change patterns of fabrication, promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills, create businesses and jobs, furthermore, drive economic growth and productivity. It does this by providing the opportunity for practically anyone in the broader public with creative ideas to participate in the design, production, and distribution of products and services. A growing global network of Fab Labs has generated an entirely new realm of possibilities at the local level to stimulate innovations, inventions, and applied research across industries.
However, the issue of inclusiveness in the field of digital access has not been duly taken into account by some Fab Labs around the world, as in their approaches they neglected the issue of the inclusive design, focusing on collaboration resulting in “one size fits one person”, which is different from the “universal” design that features “one size fits all”.
To create a positive change and a more inclusive environment that fosters innovation and production; the importance of the process developed by Mada Center has excelled to create and launch the first “Fab Lab” designed to be fully inclusive for people with disabilities and all groups that lack this kind of interest, as Mada Center aims to make it a global reference. Moreover, Mada seeks to design the lab space and environment not only to integrate persons with disabilities but also to develop its content so that assistive technology and online courses are mixed with digital production, which will contribute to changing social norms, values, and attitudes while addressing biases, unconscious stigmatization, and adopt policies and practices in training centers to have more awareness of the importance of inclusiveness. In a world where change is driven by science and innovation occurs faster than ever before, inclusive education and training must take advantage of technology to advance the cause of inclusive access and more specialized and effective learning.