Legendary quarterback Joe Montana helped to kick off the second annual CTA Foundation pitch contest sponsored by AARP Innovation Labs. The contest featured eight companies highlighting technologies to keep older adults in the game. After a fierce competition, the winner selected was Zibrio, a smart scale designed to help astronauts improve their balance that is now being brought to the consumer market. The company won a chance to compete in the AARP Grand Pitch Competition Finals along with coaching and mentoring from AARP Innovation Labs and P&G Ventures executives. Industry experts Denise Gibson (Ice Mobility and CTA Foundation Chair), Nick Dougherty (MassChallenge) and Chetan Parekh (P&G Ventures) and a fireside chat between Joe Montana, Jo Ann Jenkins (AARP CEO) and Julie Setser (Procter & Gamble) participated as judges in the pitch.
The other pitch finalists, chosen from over 75 worldwide entries were: CareWear, Naolu Brain Tech Brian Up, Rothem, SmartyPans, Strig, Triple W DFree and Yoganotch.
The CTA Government Affairs and CTA Foundation collaborated to bring together leaders from disability organizations and industry to talk about emerging technologies and how they can work together. This year’s session had over 60 attendees discussing topics including 5G, indoor navigation, transportation, hearing technology, and ways to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ADA. The roundtable kicked off a week of meetings for leaders from across the disability community to connect with exhibitors and highlight the technologies that can benefit the populations they serve. Verizon also sponsored a reception for the roundtable participants.
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