The CREATE Translation Community of Practice is a collaboration of diverse participants including almost 500 community members, community partners, industry representatives, students, and faculty spanning 4 continents, 7 countries, 14 U.S. states, and 22 universities.
In October 2022, CREATE co-hosted a panel discussion on entrepreneurship and translation in accessible technologies. Students, researchers, and community members gathered for the first in a series of Translation Community of Practice (TCoP) meetings to get an inside look at the process and problems involved in developing an idea and successfully bringing that idea to life.
The slate of entrepreneur panelists, including Billy Price of BILLY Footwear, Brandon Biggs of XR Navigation, and Jonathan Duvall of Pathvu, discussed some of the unique aspects and challenges faced when bringing accessible technology to the wider marketplace.
Join the CREATE TCoP
Interested in participating? Contact us:
Kathleen Quin Voss,
Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager
kqvoss@cs.washington.edu
206-543-3170
Watch now
Close-captioned video of the TCoP kick-off meeting:
TCoP meetings are co-sponsored by CREATE and the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology.
What is Translation? What is a Community of Practice?
Translation is the process through which research becomes innovation by taking ideas off of the page and putting it into the hands of a community of stakeholders. Through feedback, collaboration, and co-creation the partnership of researcher and community works to bring a product into the public sphere. One of the best ways to foster this type of partnership is through the creation of a community of practice.
A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of individuals who share a common interest, concern, or goal. Each member of a CoP brings their own unique perspective and lived experience to the group. This diversity of thought produces multiple layers of insight that can not only spark creativity and creative solutions, but highlight connections that might otherwise have been overlooked.
CREATE’s TCoP goals
The primary goals of this Community of Practice include:
- Gaining a more comprehensive picture of community needs by connecting students, faculty, community members, caregivers, and disability and industry professionals with knowledge of accessibility concerns;
- Increasing researcher awareness of these needs earlier in the project development process by engaging with student researchers; and
- Providing feedback on the translation, deployment, and sustainability of projects currently in development.
Benefits for members
Members of this Community of Practice will not only gain knowledge and access to emerging technology, but have an opportunity to participate in further co-design and co-translation steps for future dissemination. Members will also be able to make new connections within the accessibility and disability communities that can further enhance the mission and impact of their organizations.
What is involved?
Meetings of the CoP are currently planned to occur on a quarterly basis both in-person, here at the UW campus, and virtually. While there are no attendance requirements, it is hoped that you or another representative from your community or organization can be present at as many meetings as possible. We will do our best to provide meeting dates and agendas as far in advance as possible.