The University of Salamanca creates a Chair for research on accessible technologies

The Chancellor of the University of Salamanca Daniel Hernández Ruipérez, Indra’s Director of Innovation Jose Luis Angoso, and Chairman of Adecco Foundation Emilio Zurutuza have presided the inauguration of the Indra-Adecco Foundation Chair at the University of Salamanca. The event took place today and was celebrated at the USAL’s Sala de Retratos. It was also attended by the Vice-Chancellor of Investigation, María Ángeles Serrano; the Vice-Chancellor of Innovation and Infrastructures, Pastora Vega; the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, Juan Manuel Corchado; Indra’s Director of Relations with the University, Carlos Fernández; the Director of Indra´s Software Labs in Salamanca, Manuel Martin Portillo; and finally Adecco Foundation’s General Director, Francisco Mesonero, among others.

The Accessible Technologies Research Chair of the University of Salamanca is the sixth Chair Indra starts up in cooperation with Adecco Foundation in different Spanish universities within the framework of the company’s corporate responsibility with the objective of developing solutions and innovative services in the field of accessibility and inclusion.

The Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Salamanca, Juan Manuel Corchado, was appointed Director of the new Chair. The development of the first project is led by the research group BISITE of the university.

MOVI-MAS is the Chair’s first initiative and seeks to improve the access to the labour market for people with mobility impairments. For this purpose a new simulation platform is under development. It will render a virtual workplace to detect possible problems, deliver a training prior to the employee’s incorporation and will allow customisation of services.

The creation of the Chair bonds the relations Indra and the University of Salamanca have maintained since they signed a collaboration agreement in 2007. As a result of this relation, the company moved its facilities into the Scientific Park in January this year.

The new agreement is in line with Indra’s strategy of maintaining a close relation with knowledge institutions through it software labs network with the objective of attracting professionals and gain access to new technologies with the ultimate goal of becoming an international benchmark in the collaboration model and enterprise-university technology transfer.

MOVI-MAS project

In order to facilitate access to the labour market for people with impairments MOVI-MAS is engaged in the development of a new simulation platform which allows representing in 3D a virtual office, the staff and the tasks they perform.

By simulating the workplace the difficulties a person with mobility impairments may encounter can be detected taking into account the nature of the tasks and the sort of impairment, for instance mobility issues of an arm.

It will also make possible to design a training plan for the disabled. It will consist in fulfilling the same tasks associated to his/her position, mainly using a computer and prior to the incorporation. The system will obtain feedback and will be able to foresee possible conflicts and hence help improve the reassignment and fulfilling of tasks.

MOVI-MAS will help customise the interaction systems as well as the services offered and then adapt them to the degree or nature of impairment. The insights provided by MOVI-MAS could be the basis to design and incorporate the new services which promote labour inclusion.

People with impairments will give consultancy services and a prototype which has been developed in a real environment will be evaluated by people with mobility impairments.

Indra at the Scientific Park

Indra’s Software Lab in Salamanca started operations in 2007. At the time the staff amounted to 25 people but it has grown up to 170 professionals, most of them have graduated from universities of Salamanca. These professionals collaborate in state-of-the-art software development projects and information systems  
Among the main current projects, we should mention the smart systems of traffic control and automatic electronic collection (Free-Flow) of the Bicentennial Viaduct in Mexico; the technology for Lithuania’s railway network traffic management, the thorough integration of the administrative procedures of the Investment and Service Agency of Castilla y León; the technological maintenance, organisation, management and exploitation of the information and processing of the Housing Department of Castilla y Leon.

The development and management of applications for the main Spanish financial entities and the optimisation of the commercial management of telecommunications operators are the most representative projects underway. In the field of Accessible technologies we should mention the AZTECA project-where USAL is also involved-and which focuses on the development of smart work environments to facilitate labour integration.  

Besides the Software Lab in Salamanca, since 2005 Indra has consolidated its presence and its commitment to technological development in Castilla y Leon. For instance, it inaugurated in Valladolid the Development Centre at the Technology Park El Boecillo, started up the Centre of Excellence for Security Systems (CES) in Leon and a Computer Incident Response Center. All this has translated into over 300 highly-qualified work positions in the area.

Indra
Indra is the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It is ranked as the second European company in its sector according to investment in R&D with nearly € 500 M during the last three years. In 2010 revenues reached € 2,557 M of which a 40% came from the international market. The company employs more than 31,000 professionals and has clients in more than 110 countries.

Adecco Foundation

Formed in July of 1999, the Adecco Foundation is the product of the social responsibility commitment assumed by the firm as the world leader in human resource management. Its main objective is the integration in the employment market of people who, as a result of their personal characteristics, find it more difficult to find a job.
 
The Adecco Foundation pursues occupational integration programmes for: 
- Men and women over 45
- Persons with disabilities
- Women who are heads of households and/or victims of gender violence
- Current and former high-level competitive athletes