For more discussions and topics around SP Mobility, please visit our Mobility Community: http://cisco.com/go/mobilitycommunity Read the blog post (with hyperlinks) here: https://communities.cisco.com/community/solutions/sp/mobility/blog/2013/11/04/ioe-mobility-case-study-3-service-providers-bridge-communication-for-the-hearing-impaired

1. IoE Mobility Case Study #3: Service Providers Bridge Communication for the
Hearing Impaired
By Dee-Dee Atta (Service Provider Marketing Manager, Cisco)
People who are hearing impaired in developing countries often lack formal special education
opportunities. This can severely limit their means of communication and economic future. With
Internet connections and mobile networks necessary within Colombia, people are able to access
video-based software programs designed to educate hearing impaired people. As a result, this
improves quality of life for hearing impaired individuals and their families by creating new
opportunities to learn and overcome obstacles related to their disability.
Let’s take a deeper look at the numbers:
Source: Cisco Service Provider Slideshare
Globally, 360 million people are hearing impaired with 32 million of those being children
(source: World Health Organization, WHO 2013, Aug 19, 2013). Socioeconomic challenges and
limited access to education services inhibits this group’s ability to participate on an equal basis with
others. In developing countries, hearing impaired children rarely receive the education necessary for
them to thrive.

2. Service Providers play a key role in connecting people to information previously unavailable due to
limited Internet and mobile access. By providing the Internet connections and mobile network
necessary, access to specialty education programs designed for hearing impaired people become
more available for those in need. In fact across Latin America, there will be 940 million mobileconnected devices in 2017. This represents approximately 1.5 per capita for this region/country.
Special needs education programs like Hablando Con Julis, created in Colombia, provide education
opportunities with downloadable software. Service Providers bring the Internet and mobile network to
developing countries worldwide allowing education programs like Hablando Con Julis to reach the
larger hearing impaired audience. This software was created to give the hearing impaired the
opportunity to communicate and advance academically. The software is available from any IPenabled device and is offered in English and Spanish. Through these connections, access to
education and vocational services are improved, giving hearing impaired children and adults the
foundation to communicate and participate in the economic development of their community.
Hablando Con Julis has used the foundation of Service Provider connections – the Internet – to
provide access to specialty education software through a computer or a mobile device. Through these
connections, the Internet of Everything’s mission to connect the unconnected is realized: those
affected with hearing loss are able to take advantage of specialty learning opportunities and improve
their quality of life. As more connections are made with education software similar to Hablando Con
Julis, the hearing impaired community will continue to benefit.
Read Hablando Con Julis’s full story submission here
Follow on Twitter @givetocolombia
This case study is part 3 of a 5 part series titled IoE Mobility Case Studies. The fourth case study of
this series will be coming out next Monday 11/11 on how Service Providers connect information to
boost farm production in rural areas.
More Resources
IoE Mobility Case Study #1: Service Providers Facilitate New Economies in Developing Countries
IoE Mobility Case Study #2: Service Providers Deliver Mobile Healthcare Information across Africa
Slidecast: Service Providers Making Amazing Things Happen: Use Cases for the Internet of
Everything
Visual Networking Index: VNI Mobile Forecast Highlights, 2012-2017
For more discussions and topics around SP Mobility, please visit our Mobility Community:
http://cisco.com/go/mobilitycommunity