Tag Archives: NDIS

NDIS New World Conference–coming soon!

In the last month or so there has been a flurry of information on webinars and most recently the New World Conference (27-29 October, Brisbane) from the NDIA. As I indicated in an earlier post, this may reflect the ‘next phase’ for the Agency after a period of reflection in the last 6mths or so, and particularly as some key personnel have changed.

Unfortunately there is always the risk when something becomes as big as the NDIS, particularly as it has to grow with speed, that if you miss some key briefing/presentation you may find future information confusing. I think that is what has happened for some in the AT sector with the release in the last couple of weeks of its New World Conference info. The Agency has been doing some of the background work on this event since early 2015 – but internally. Usually such an event would have been publicly announced 6 months or more out, but that has been delayed so it now seems quite a rush. If you are pondering whether to put in a paper or attend context is everything.

We need to remember that the CEO, David Bowen, is keen on using innovation and ICT to deliver better outcomes (see for example the NDIS Year 2 Progress Report). So the role of technology (such as AT, but also some of the new and emerging technologies) are recognised as valuable, even key, in enhancing outcomes for NDIS participants – ARATA members have known that for years. But it also means that the NDIA is looking at how ICT/technology can help it deliver a cutting edge Scheme including:

  • Better websites and assisting those with intellectual and other disability to use websites etc. to connect to the Agency, find information, choose a provider etc.;
  • Smarter, connected, business systems – for payments, tracking, data collection, analysis & research, reporting etc.;
  • Capitalising on the accessibility/support features in mainstream technologies (and some just around the corner), rather than building special solutions for ‘people with disability’;
  • Using the commercial buying power of the Australian government to challenge big technology players (e.g. Microsoft, Google etc.) to enhance offerings or tailor for the diverse Australian market. (Gunela Astbrink & William Tibben have a nice paper on this online)

With that context and the briefing given to Australia’s ICT sector by the NDIA, the Dept of Human Services (Medicare/Centrelink experts) and Dept of Social Services in June (see my previous post), the four themes of the New World Conference make more sense. This is how I see it:

The whole Conference is within the context of better outcomes for NDIS participants, and thence society generally.

  • Informed: This is the Agency and others ‘enlightening’ mainstream technology providers on the opportunity within the NDIS for their innovation,
  • Engaged: Opening up discussion between providers of supports (e.g. in home care etc.) and technology providers to find ways of using/tailoring technology to enhance their services/efficiency.
  • Focused: This is perhaps not too far from an ARATA/AGOSCI/ATSA Expo, or some of the more recent ‘hack fests’ where vendors and participants come together to solve problems with technology already available, or just around the corner.
  • Digital Aspiration Spotlights: This is what some call the ‘Blue Sky’ or ‘Visioning’ sessions. Mainly delivered by participants (current and future) speaking, showing, demonstrating about the issues they want a solution to and ideas they have ‘cobbled together’ to address a need, with the aim of getting the technology vendors to take them up.

So it is clearly going to have a strong focus on ICT, and there could be some fun and exciting discussions. Remember that ‘co-design’ is a key word for the Agency at the moment so discussions are unlikely to be one-sided! NDIA staff have indicated that there are likely to be side events and meetings to bring interested stakeholders together during the Conference to facilitate future planning.

The NDIS 2015 New World Conference could be a really interesting event, providing all the stakeholders can get their skates on; it’s only 3 months away!

NDIA starts to open up about AT in NDIS

On Wednesday 10th June I was able to discuss the current state of NDIS work in AT with the relatively new General Manager, Market and Sector Division, Esther Kerr-Smith. It followed my letter to the CEO of NDIA in April .

Essentially Esther was briefed by the CEO to accelerate the NDIA AT discussion and readiness. The aim was to make sure that ‘technology is a catalyst for innovative solutions and enhanced efficiencies for NDIA assistance to participants.’ After 3 months or so getting a handle on things, talking to staff and others, Esther is now gearing up on developing an AT Strategy.

The Strategy was likely to have three parts:

  1. Innovation – using NDIS as a catalyst for innovation in AT, and its use to benefit participants.
  2. Choice & control – developing and enhancing guidelines, addressing issues for information, trial, choice etc.
  3. Sourcing & procurement – drawing on the earlier AT Framework paper, but now under further test from Boston Consulting.

Matthew Massy-Westropp was appointed through to the end of the year to bring a broader perspective with domain knowledge and is focused on developing the component parts of the strategy. A key part of this is the engagement approach – which the NDIA wants to make more focused on hearing from participants.

Aspects of these new approaches are being considered/approved for progress by the Board, and the Agency will now be increasingly opening this up to consultation/engagement. On Tuesday morning this week (16th), the NDIA had a briefing on ICT aspects for their systems. Interestingly Esther and David Bowen both made the point during the session the focus was on innovation to assist participants engage personally with the Agency, and also to catalyse new support options (think ubiquitous accesssible ICT, Smart AT etc.) for them using ICT (the webcast is likely to go online in a few days).

Sean Fitzgerald was MC for the event and, apart from my misgivings about him narrowing the definition of AT, did a great job in highlighting the opportunities and issues in ICT to a relatively mainstream audience. As this was Microsoft, Google, big & smaller ICT businesses, it put them on notice that the tenders/procurement would have a strong emphasis on solutions to empower people with disability (and involve them in the innovation & delivery aspects). It also highlighted that both Dept of Social Services (DSS) and Dept of Human Services (DHS – who are in charge of the underlying project management of the ICT build drawing on their experience in Medicare/Centrelink) were also overtly thinking about how they could more directly connect with people with disability, and not rely on carers or others as a ‘go between.’

This is probably the first ‘cab off the rank’ info sharing event, and Esther indicated to me there are other planned events/meetings in the second half of the year with AT presentations, but also including forums/meetings to develop and refine the NDIA approach to AT. The next opportunity is a Q&A session on 26 June. group-418449_640

So expect more to emerge and I think yet again, we need to remember to be listening to consumers of AT and encouraging them to speak up as the Agency seeks their input.

Lloyd.

Agency committed to getting NDIS AT right

In April I wrote to David Bowen (CEO of the NDIA) about a number of concerns I had about the path that the Agency has been taking in formulating its approach to providing AT across Australia to its participants. I also expressed dismay at the feeling that it was now stalled following the feedback to the Agency (yet to be released) on their Framework paper. You can see some of my thoughts on their draft Framework in (one of) my official capacities on the Engineers Aus  website where the NCRE submission is.

David Bowen and the NDIA team have formally responded (6 May) and the letter below (with David’s permission – published unedited) contains some interesting updates (including a note that he has allocated extra resources to the task).

I am sure many of you will join with me in offering to assist Ms Kerr-Smith and her team to reinvigourate this process and help build the world class AT system that Australians with disability (or functional limitation) deserve. As I note that David’s tenure is due to expire about now, I trust the CEO (David or a successor) will be able to continue this long standing commitment to getting AT right!

Lloyd.

Dear Lloyd

Thank you for your letter of 23 April 2015 regarding the development of a national system for the provision of Assistive Technology (AT).

As you will be aware, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has many concurrent priorities to deliver on, including the rollout of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) trial
sites and meeting the needs of participants who are phasing into the Scheme during the trial period. I agree with and acknowledge the importance of AT within the NDIS. As such, the NDIA is progressing work on an AT strategy.
During the trial period the NDIA has been, and will continue, working closely with state based equipment schemes to deliver the AT required by trial site participants. This has meant participants have their equipment needs assessed, delivered and set up as quickly as possible to increase their ability to safely undertake daily activities and to increase participation in their community. This has already reduced long waiting periods caused by budget constrained equipment schemes and has expanded the variety of equipment available to participants.
Increasingly, AT devices available to all Australian residents are being used to meet participant needs, particularly in the area of communication technology. Working closely with state schemes has also meant knowledge that can inform the development of the NDIA’s strategy is shared.
If you are aware of any specific instances of delays in provision of AT, please provide details directly to trial site personnel or to the General Manager of Operations, Ms Liz Cairns
(liz.cairns@ndis.gov.au).

I appreciate that you and your colleagues are eager to see visible evidence of the work on AT progressing faster. Following the analysis of the responses from the ‘Towards Solutions for
Assistive Technology Discussion Paper’ the NDIA now has additional information from a wider audience to continue informing a model for delivery of AT to NDIS participants in the full Scheme. As you are aware, strong views are held in relation to all aspects of AT and decisions need to be made which will have a significant impact on NDIS participants, so the complexities must be worked through diligently.

To this end, I have increased the resources devoted to this component of the NDIA’s work. Ms Esther Kerr-Smith has been recruited to the position of General Manager of the Market and
Sector Division and is leading the work on market design, including AT. Ms Kerr-Smith’s team is growing to reflect the NDIA’s investment in these priority areas.

The focus for AT strategy incorporates, but is by no means limited to, questions about procurement. Ensuring the NDIS is  set up to promote best practice and innovation are key priorities for the NDIA in AT and across all supports.

The procurement arrangements are very important in AT as constructing the most cost efficient system for the delivery of daily use products will enable consequential savings to be invested in research and development for more innovative ways of meeting participant needs. The NDIA is comprehensively analysing the inputs and outcomes from state schemes to better construct the national direction for the full rollout of the NDIS. The next focus will be on consumer input, feedback and testing, following which the NDIA will be in a position to brief
more widely.

I appreciate and share your continuing interest and determination to see the NDIA appropriately addressing provision of AT to NDIS participants.

Thank you again for writing

David Bowen

May 2015

 

Does NDIS AT need ‘innovation’ yet?

On this website you can see details of an Innovation for AT plan that we crafted (with input from several others from around Australia and abroad) for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. A learned colleague in the USA, Joseph Lane, has provided a critique of sorts. Primarily he challenges the value of ‘innovation’ in AT when really the fundamentals aren’t sorted out. It is perhaps a wake up to us all:

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on your characterization for the process of technological innovation.  Your framework is very well constructed, thoughtful and thorough.  It is everything one could ask of a plan to progress from the current state of a product, service or process to a new and improved state.  All such models of the innovation process presume the necessity of innovating and then outlines the process through which innovations can be achieved.
Since the mid-18th century (see Vaclav Smil (2005), Creating the 20th Century) most technological innovation has occurred within the organizing framework of industrial corporations.  They either fund the necessary R&D internally or they conduct the necessary R&D sponsored by government agencies.  Unlike government agencies and public universities, corporations can go out of business, so they are careful to focus their R&D efforts on activities that lead directly to product/service improvements or next generation replacements.  This focus requires higher level managers to track the progress of internal R&D as well as to monitor the external state of science and state of practice (see John Gertner (2012), The Idea Factory:  History of Bell Labs).   The industrial sector pursues innovation opportunities through the free market mechanisms within fields where the available supply and demand revenues support a business case.  That is why we see unrelenting technological innovation in lucrative fields such as military weapons, sports equipment and entertainment media.
The reality is that the field of Assistive Technology devices and services does not (yet) meet the business case for sustained innovation.   Most AT manufacturers, suppliers and service providers are small businesses which are hard pressed to stay solvent.  These small companies valiantly strive to serve Persons with Disabilities who represent small, distributed and virtually anonymous markets, of largely underserved, highly varied and relatively underprivileged human beings.   We know that large numbers of People with Disabilities do not yet have access to existing AT products and services.   Identifying these consumers and delivering to them the existing AT products and services is the highest priority.  Until the AT industry builds an adequate customer base they lack adequate data (sufficient numbers, socio/geo/demographic distribution) — let alone customer feedback — to formulate good business decisions.  Once corporations have a sustainable customer base for existing products, they can turn their attention to making improvements where and if such improvement are warranted.  There are plenty of opportunities to apply science and engineering within the context of delivering, customizing and supporting AT products and services in the community.  If and when such client-based interventions form a pattern, they would serve as a template for AT product or service improvement.
Fact:  There is no shortage of ideas for technological innovations within AT corporations.  There are concepts, wireframes and even functional prototypes stacked up in most corporations, that simply lack the financial justification to refine and deploy within the marketplace.  I have seen no reports where AT corporations have said, “We are simply out of ideas for how to improve our products!”
Fact:  When corporations need expertise beyond that of internal staff, they seek out and fund that expertise in universities, government laboratories or other sources.  Healthy corporations sponsor R&D in such institutions where it is required and relevant.  I have no reports where AT product development managers have said, “Our full-time engineers are clueless, we need government to fund some random clusters of graduate students on a part-time basis to meet our needs.”
Fact:  There is no published document identifying targeted areas within the AT field for technological innovation, either articulated by corporations or documented with clinical evidence.   One might reasonably ask those calling for a focus on innovation, “Provide specific examples of product/service improvements requested by companies or demonstrated through functional outcomes data.
In summary, the concept of “technological innovation” simply has no standing within the existing NDIS framework.   It happens that it is not the primary requirement for improving the quality of life for Persons with Disabilities.  At least, not until consumers, clinicians and companies have sufficient experience with the existing platforms of AT to render informed opinions about future directions.  At present, the call for ‘innovation’ is a sideshow guaranteed to distract the well meaning but uninvolved to look beyond the reality of existing and urgent requirements.
You had previously shared with me a pyramid depicting the progression of requirements for serving the needs of People with Disabilities.  As one moves up the pyramid, there are fewer numbers of people but their AT needs are increasingly complex.   We discussed adding the two other sides to the pyramid to reflect the corresponding factors.  A second side of the pyramid could reflect the increasingly level of clinical expertise required to meet complex needs — and the role of continuing education, credentialing and consumer empowerment in ensuring the expertise is present and delivered.  The third side would show the corresponding increase in cost of AT devices and services to thoroughly meet those complex needs, because without adequate reimbursement levels the AT companies cannot make sell and support the complex AT devices, nor can the AT clinicians cover the expenses associated with assessment, training and follow-along.   Nowhere in that pyramid did I see a role for “technological innovation” because when a sustainable business case is present, the competitive forces of the free market ensure continuous innovation.
As I commented directly to the NDIA, I would purge any mention of “technological innovation” from the NDIS planning document.  It is a Pandora’s box that if left open will shift available funds — at little cost to the decision-makers and at great benefit to the program implementers — from a clear and present focus on the mundane realities of supporting the AT device and service delivery system, to the politically and professionally sexy “future potential” of AT.  As a result, PWD’s and clinicians will muddle along with a substantial portion of the funding is burned up by the well intentioned but largely clueless operating at the margins of the system.  Believe me, I’m trying my best to bridge that same gap caused by U.S. legislation in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, but with the bulk of the available resources under their control most government staff and academic faculty are driven by unrelated incentives.
This pattern has already occurred in the United States and in the European Union.  Those who are indeed focused on delivering value will lack the time, attention and expertise to compete with those who set the rules of the competition.  Even if invited to the table, industry will become disenfranchised and turn their attention to staying solvent.  This leaves the resources to those who’s quality of life will be directly enhanced through the management of government sponsored programs, and the conduct of government sponsored “R&D”.   If Consumers and Industry are not leading — and more importantly controlling — this system, they will soon be shaken loose and left in the dust by those who dwell within the system being created.
I am unable to provide specific guidance on your “technological innovation” model, because at a fundamental level it is irrelevant to the stated goals of the NDIS.
I wish you all every success in creating a system that is focused on delivering beneficial impacts on the quality of life for Persons with Disabilities.  The rest of the world would greatly benefit from such an enlightened and selfless example.

 

NDIA seeks feedback on AT Framework

The NDIA have now officially advised the AT Reference Group that the above discussion paper is out for public comment. I’d strongly encourage everyone with an interest in AT to take a look and see the ideas they are proposing. While the Reference Group had input into this paper, we don’t all agree with everything in it but it is a great place to start a broad discussion on what Australians with disability would like to see from an NDIS guided AT system.

The link is: http://www.ndis.gov.au/document/1286

Mary Hawkins (Branch Manager, Supports & Services) suggests that you should give your feedback by the end of February 2015.

Lloyd.