BATA hosts successful AGM for 2023

Description: Rick Bell, Chair of BATA, presenting to the room full of attendees

BATA hosted its annual AGM on 20th June 2023 and welcomed over 40 people in person to review and celebrate BATA’s progress over the year 2022-23. The AGM took place on 20th June in London and was set to examine the last year's impact and unveil exciting plans for the future after a difficult period during COVID-19.

Rick Bell, Chair at BATA, gave an overview of strategic decisions made by the Board during the last year, with newly appointed Treasurer, Jack Churchill, outlining BATA's financial performance. On governance, the AGM saw long -time Board Member, Antony Ruck step down as Vice-Chair with great thanks, and Matt Dean elected in his place. Acknowledgement was also given to Carolyne Smith, the previous Executive Director, who will remain BATA Secretary on the Board. Two new Council Members were also elected and include Reeza Awoodun Founder and CEO of TechEdology and Cara Bielecki, Chief Marketing Officer at Present Pal. Special Interest Group leads, Jack Churchill, who led the Global SIG until the AGM, and Richard Holmes, SIG lead for Visual Impairment gave their reflections on the important and relevance of SIGs for the work of BATA and their potential to lead to real impact.

BATA’s new Chief Executive, Katherine Perry, took to the floor to expand on the future of BATA to a great reception. “We’ve taken time to really consider the needs of our members, our core values and our mission in this post-covid world.” Presenting a new vision and mission, Katherine said “BATA does have a diverse audience and with this new vision and mission, we’re hoping to be able to unite our members behind one common cause – to make progress for the end-user.” Katherine also presented the new BATA website bataonline.org and demonstrated how member profiles would now be represented.

The AGM also saw the first screening of the trailer for the "Power of AT" project, due to be completed in the Autumn, a documentary series, highlighting the transformative impact of assistive technology on the lives of educators and disabled children. Myles Pilling, the producer of the films, BATA Council Member and advocate stated "we want this documentary to change lives and we believe that it will". A dedicated research session, led by Nicole Michael, provided members with an opportunity to delve deeper into ongoing research initiatives and contribute their valuable insights, which saw presentations from Texthelp as well as an announcement regarding a new Special Interest Group on Research.

Keynote speakers delivered captivating presentations, sharing their invaluable insights on the assistive technology landscape. Atif Choudhury, CEO of Diversity and Ability, emphasised the importance of diversity and intersectionality in assistive technology and disability inclusion. His thought-provoking address shed light on the significance of embracing diverse perspectives to create truly inclusive solutions. A second keynote speaker, Mitchell Feldman from Xrai Glass, introduced their ground-breaking product—a pair of smart glasses accompanied by an award-winning app that converts audio into visual subtitles in real-time, demonstrating the enormous leaps that AI and technology is taking.

During the event, Martin Littler from Inclusive Technology, made an exciting announcement that generated great enthusiasm among attendees. He introduced the AT Scholar scheme. We are thrilled to have Katherine Perry, CEO at BATA, join the judging panel for this initiative. BankAbility's Chief Executive, David Agar, also introduced their new technology with hopes of revolutionising the way disabled and older people achieve financial independence.

As BATA continues to find better ways of working and more impactful partnerships, we look forward to working together to shape a future where disabled and older people get access to affordable and appropriate AT.

BATA would also like to extend thanks to the executive team, board, and council for their exceptional efforts in making the AGM a resounding success. We'd also like to thank members and their contributions, ongoing support and enthusiasm - your dedication and hard work have played a pivotal role in advancing the assistive technology sector and driving positive change.

Till next year!

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