The Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) will host an online summit, “Disability, Entrepreneurship, and the Gig Economy Research Summit,” to highlight research findings on the participation, practices, and characteristics of people with disabilities engaged in contingent work, as well as their rationales, attitudes, perceptions, and experiences in contingent work arrangements.

The recent emergence of online-based or mobile app-based employment opportunities has further contributed to the redefinition of employment and the labor market. Contingent, or alternatively, "non-traditional" workers—who lend skills and expertise to a business on a project-by-project or short-term basis—differ from standard workers characterized by permanent jobs with traditional employer-employee relationships.

The one-day event will examine key findings are from the Georgia Institute of Technology's Field Initiated Project (FIP) on Contingent Employment of Individuals with Disabilities, and will highlight three major aims:

• Qualitative research through narrative interviews to understand non-traditional work practices and experiences
• Development and testing of a rigorous survey, the Contingent Employment Practices Survey (CEPS)
• Administration of the CEPS to produce an empirical, more generalizable evidence base on participation in contingent employment by people with disabilities

Register for the March 30 RESNA event, free for all interested stakeholders.