Global Centre of Possibility
About Us
The Global Centre of Possibility @ AUT is a centre of innovation, learning, research and development into possibility for Aotearoa and the world.
Our mission is to both catalyse innovation, and to establish an accessibility innovation eco system,
so that future societies are 100% accessible to all.
Background
The Global Centre of Possibility (GCOP) was established in December 2019 by the Be. Institute, which has been leading and creating a more accessible New Zealand for the past decade. Today the Be. The institute continues to work directly with organisations to help them on their journey towards greater accessibility through the Be. Lab - a one-stop-shop for New Zealand businesses and organisations to help them on their accessibility journey.
The GCOP, and the Possibility lens, was created to complement the work of Be. Lab and enable a more future-focused and accessible approach to design.
The two organisations work closely together, with the GCOP inviting Be. Lab individuals and organisations to step into the realm of Possibility and imagine what could be through a carefully designed framework that enables creative and innovative thinking.
What is Possibility
There are an estimated 1.3 billion people globally currently living with access needs. Yet despite making up a significant proportion of the global population, access citizens face profound systemic barriers to thriving. At the moment, by not designing access into our communities, workplaces, products, and services, we are actually designing it out, which is deeply disabling for individuals with access needs.
At the same time, over the course of history, innovation for, and by, the access community has proven to benefit not only those living with access needs; it has also led to many of the inventions that we all take for granted today. The contemporary keyboard – an evolution of the typewriter – was originally designed to help people who were blind to write legibly, and the telephone was created to condense and amplify sound for the hearing impaired.
Even digital communication as we know it today mightn’t exist if it weren’t for Vinton Cerf, the ‘father of the internet’ who developed text messaging and email as a way to communicate with his wife, who was deaf.
Designing for greater access has been proven to generate greater efficiencies, more inclusivity and more convenience for all. And the 21st Century access citizen therefore plays a significant role in ensuring a thriving, creative future for everyone.
At the GCOP, we have created the Possibility lens to facilitate and catalyse this way of thinking. We invite individuals, organisations and communities to adopt this framework and work with us to co-create a truly accessible future for all.
Our role
At the Global Centre of Possibility, we act as guardians and catalysts of a world of possibility for access citizens. We believe access citizens can flourish through a systems-led, future-focused approach to social change – an approach with access innovation at the heart.
The GCOP will lead the next wave of social change for access citizens by building future-focussed access innovation capability in organisations, communities and individuals throughout Aotearoa.
Possibility Partners
The Global Centre of Possibility has been developed with the support of our founding Possibility Partners – AUT, ACC, Sudima Hotels, Microsoft, and the New Zealand government.
It is their foresight and commitment to innovation and accessibility that is enabling New Zealand to become a global hub for access innovation and lead the world into a truly accessible future for all.
Our Board
