Bruno Mahfuz é um dos 35 mais inovadores com menos de 35 anos premiados pelo MIT no ano de 2018
Bruno Mahfuz is one of the 35 most innovative people under 35 recognized by MIT in 2018
On November 15, 2018, the Innovators Under 35 awards, run by the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), take place. This year the ceremony will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Guiaderodas founding partner Bruno Mahfuz is one of the winners in the Humanitarians category, with the Guiaderodas app.
Inovadores com menos de 35 anos é o mais prestigiado reconhecimento mundial da MIT Technology Review
Innovators Under 35 is an annual list that recognizes innovators around the world. There are 5 award categories: Inventors, Entrepreneurs, Visionaries, Humanitarians and Pioneers. MIT looks for individuals whose outstanding technical work promises to shape the coming decades. Its aim is to recognize the development of new technologies, or the creative application of existing ones, to solve the world’s biggest problems.
For people with reduced mobility, leaving home can mean an expedition into the unknown. Without certain information about a place, there is no guarantee that they will be able to get in once they arrive. That is why Guiaderodas was created: an app through which users can report the level of accessibility of the places they visit, so that this information is available to the rest of the community.
For this initiative, Mahfuz was selected by MIT Technology Review among the innovators under 35 in Latin America 2018. To improve accessibility in companies, Bruno Mahfuz created the Guiaderodas Certification, a program that recognizes the best accessibility practices in the world. Sought after by companies and developments that care about everyone’s well-being, the certification process involves assessing accessibility from the perspective of a specialist architect, of a person with a disability and of the venue’s own staff, who are trained to better serve people with any mobility restriction. Learn more about the Guiaderodas Certification.
MIT Technology Review
Established in 1999 to mark the 100th anniversary of MIT Technology Review, the Innovators Under 35 list was initially conceived as a list of 100 innovators. In the mid-2000s, the list evolved to focus on 35 innovators each year. In 2010, the search for the most promising innovators was expanded by organizing regional editions of the list. There are regional versions in Latin America, Europe, China, India, Southeast Asia / Oceania and MENA. Winners of the regional lists are automatically considered for the global list. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1861 in response to the growing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European polytechnic university model and emphasized laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. It is frequently cited as one of the best universities in the world. It is well known for its research and education in the physical sciences and engineering. See the full article on the MIT website.
Each of the chosen innovators has a profile page on the Innovators Under 35 Latin America 2018 website. The text below is from Bruno’s page.
Texto em Espanhol / Texto em Inglês
The award
Category: Internet and web
Year: 2018
Organization: Guiaderodas
Region: Latin America
Country: Brazil
Leaving home can be a challenge
For people with reduced mobility, leaving home can become an expedition into the unknown. Without certain information about a venue, there is no guarantee that, once they arrive at their destination, they will be able to get in. Bruno Mahfuz considers this situation unacceptable in the age of the internet. That is why he created Guiaderodas, an app for users to rate the accessibility level of the places they visit, so that this information is available to the whole community. For this initiative, Mahfuz was selected by MIT Technology Review as one of the Innovators Under 35 Latin America 2018.
When he was 17, an accident left him using a wheelchair, which brought an additional difficulty to living a normal life. All those years using a wheelchair convinced Mahfuz that accessibility is not a problem that affects only people with disabilities. “Parents pushing their children in strollers, pregnant women, older people, people who have suffered an injury… Accessibility makes life more comfortable for everyone,” says the young Brazilian. In fact, he states that 65% of Guiaderodas users do not have any kind of disability.
Guiaderodas offers a list of nearby venues based on location and on categories previously chosen by the user, along with the accessibility level of each venue, which is rated by other users. Access to this information in advance allows people greater predictability when deciding where to go.
Crossing borders
After two years of operation, the app had collected information about venues in more than 900 cities across 56 countries, and was chosen as the best initiative in inclusion and empowerment at the World Summit Awards, organized by the United Nations. Even so, its creator believes society must stop looking at accessibility as a problem affecting only a minority and start seeing it as something that improves everyone’s life. Mahfuz states: “My goal is for the company to eventually cease to exist, because we hope that one day there will no longer be a need for this service.”
Paloma Cabello, partner, senior consultant for Finance and Investment and angel investor at Calligram, who is also a member of the Innovators Under 35 Latin America 2018 jury, considers Guiaderodas “excellent”, offering “an innovative approach to an old problem, one that has high impact and is sustainable”.
Make accessibility a decision, not a detail
The app was the beginning. The certification is how that experience reaches companies.
The Guiaderodas Certification goes beyond a technical checklist. Its methodology combines a detailed assessment of the physical space, the lived experience of people with disabilities, staff training for an accessible attitude and a leadership commitment to continuous improvement.
Learn about the Guiaderodas Certification →
