Scientific Secretary Dr (Mrs.) Parvinder Maini delivered a special address at the workshop on “Engineering Accessibility into India’s Digital Transformation: Technology Requirements” held on 10 April 2026 at Society for Electronic Transactions and Security, Chennai. In her address, Dr Maini emphasised on scaling innovation opportunities for assistive technologies to bridge gaps between discovery and application. It is also important to have specific cybersecurity measures in place to ensure privacy and data security. She also urged the participants to enlist recommendations on standards, institutional mechanisms, and technology priorities to take the accessibility of assistive technologies forward. In order to overcome the challenges faced by innovators to take the technologies from laboratory scale to validated prototypes to viable commercial scale, she outlined the funding architecture introduced by Government of India in the form of Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI), and the Fund of Funds. A Fireside Chat on “Engineering Accessibility into India’s Digital Transformation” was also held where Dr Rakesh Kaur, Adviser/Scientist ‘G’, OPSA highlighted that accessibility must be embedded as a core principle in India’s digital journey, not treated as an add-on. She emphasised the need for inclusive design in AI and digital systems and bridging the gap between prototypes and real-world deployment to ensure accessible technologies reach users at scale. Concluding the panel discussion Shri. S. Ramakrishnan highlighted the importance of innovation in the Assistive Technologies, development of affordable products, creating a centralised repository, policy level intervention for creating an enabling ecosystem. Dr Maini was joined by Ms. Manmeet Kaur Nanda, Additional Secretary, DEPwD, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Govt. of India, (MoSJE); Dr Subramanian Neelakantan, Executive Director, Society for Electronic Transactions and Security (SETS), Chennai; Shri. S. Ramakrishnan, Former Director General, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC); Tmt. S. Madumathi, Secretary of Welfare of Differently Abled Persons, Tamil Nadu; and Dr Rakesh Kaur, Adviser/Scientist 'G' from OPSA. Dibojit Pathak