G3ict (http://g3ict.com/) – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an Advocacy Initiative of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development, launched in December 2006 in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the CRPD promoting digital accessibility and assistive technologies. Participating organisations include industry, academia, the public sector and organisations representing persons with disabilities.

G3ict relies on an international network of ICT accessibility experts (including the World Wide Web Consortium/Web Accessibility Initiative) to develop practical tools, evaluation methods and benchmarks for States Parties, Disabled Persons Organisations and corporations. Its collection of publications and reports on various aspects of ICT accessibility can be consulted at: http://www.g3ict.org/resource_center/publications_and_reports The data collection for its annual benchmark study, the CRPD Progress Report on ICT Accessibility is organised in cooperation with Disabled Persons’ International National Assemblies from around the world.

G3ict operates with a staff of five people, including two par-time persons, three part-time analysts on secondment from other organisations and an extensive network of over 100 experts in ICT accessibility, contributing to its workshops and conferences, toolkit, publication and research projects. It is exclusively supported by financial contributions from corporations and foundations, including IBM, Microsoft, AT&T, Adobe, Time Warner Cable, Samsung, TecAccess, Deque Systems, Internet Speech, Air France, LucyTech, Vodafone, Sprint, EJ Krause and Associates, Dominic Foundation, HSC Foundation, Fondazione Rosselli Americas, the Hans Foundation, and the Mozilla Foundation; and contributions of experts by the National Disability Authority of Ireland, the World Blind Union, the International Telecommunication Union, the United States National Council on Disability, and the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, India.

The role of G3ict in the project will be to support the other ICT4IAL network partners in different activities, including developing methodologies, quality assurance, organising seminars, editing reports and disseminating and exploiting the results of the project.