Estelle Peyrard, associate researcher at i3-CRG and head of APF France handicap's TechLab, has been awarded the AFMD (Association Française des Managers de la Diversité) thesis prize for her work in management science entitled "L'innovation inclusive en pratique: fondations, apports et défis dans le domaine du handicap", thesis defended in March 2022.

By focusing on the accessibility of manufactured products, whether physical or digital, for people with disabilities (PWD), Estelle Peyrard aims to humanize design processes that are often overly focused on technology, and to make innovation part of the development of a more inclusive society.

Inclusive innovation makes it possible not only to meet the needs of people often excluded from the mass market by involving them in innovation processes, but also to improve quality of use for all. It thus pursues the objectives of universal design, which refers to "the design of products that can be used by everyone, as far as possible, without the need for adaptation or special design", according to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006.  Inclusive innovation opens up a multitude of extremely promising avenues in terms of design and conception processes, modes of collaboration and the impact of innovation on society.

This work will be published by AFMD in 2024 as part of the "Questionner" collection.