Bill Curtis-Davidson serves as Executive Director of the Georgia Tech Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI), where he leads a highly talented team focused on making technology broadly accessible and enabling inclusive innovation through research, service and education. 

A Georgia Tech alumnus, Curtis-Davidson began his career as a Research Scientist in assistive technologies at CATEA, one of CIDI's predecessor organizations. He has always maintained strong ties to Georgia Tech and the broader accessibility community in Georgia, serving as an advisor in Georgia Tech’s Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Literature, Media and Communications (LMC) Programs. He also serves as an appointed member of the Georgia Technology Authority’s AI Advisory Council.

Curtis-Davidson employs unique research methods working across academic, corporate, community-based, and project-driven environments. His practical approach bridges theory and application, addressing accessibility challenges from multiple perspectives while working directly with affected communities using participatory design.

Curtis-Davidson’s work in previous roles at IBM, Level Access, Magic Leap involved bridging accessibility research into the design of accessible products, including air travel kiosks, streaming/gaming devices, and printer hardware. His research includes a patent for automated accessible wayfinding. In recent years, he has helped develop communities of practice and resources to advance inclusive design and responsible innovation in technologies that integrate extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI). 

As a Certified AI Governance Professional (AIGP), Curtis-Davidson has contributed award-winning research and policy work with leading organizations including OECD, NIST, Partnership on AI, ForHumanity, and OECD, including co-authoring the AI & Inclusive Hiring Framework. He has been recognized with awards including Service to the Citizen "Champion of Change", Thinkers360 Top 50 Global Thinker on Diversity & Inclusion, and two Zero Project Awards.

Curtis-Davidson is known not only for his thought leadership in disability inclusion and emerging technology, but also for his collaborative leadership style centered around transparency, shared decision-making, and a commitment to the development of others.  

Statement of Teaching Interest

My teaching interests integrate inclusive design and accessibility into the broader context of design and technology innovation. My focus includes human-centered design, UX/UI principles, and assistive technology, with an emphasis on emerging technologies such as AI and XR. I aim to prepare students to apply accessibility standards and compliance frameworks while fostering participatory design approaches that involve people with disabilities in the creative process. Additional areas include organizational accessibility maturity models and strategies for embedding accessibility practices to improve outcomes for people with disabilities in education, workplaces, government, healthcare / rehabilitation, and other settings. These topics align with the College of Design’s commitment to shaping environments and technologies that enhance human experience.

Statement of Research Interest

My research examines accessibility and disability inclusion within emerging technology ecosystems, with a primary focus on AI, XR, and automated systems. I investigate governance frameworks, risk assessment methodologies, and participatory design approaches that ensure equitable outcomes for people with disabilities. At the same time, I explore how these technologies can enhance quality of life—not only for individuals with disabilities but also for those who are aging and, by extension, for all of us. This work bridges design, human-computer interaction, and policy to create scalable solutions and standards that embed accessibility into innovation processes globally. By integrating disability-led perspectives and evidence-based design practices, my research advances the College of Design’s mission to shape technologies and environments that improve human experience.

List of Recent Scholarly Work

• “Practicing Inclusivity in AI: Stakeholder Engagement Policy in Action” (Co-Author), Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), CSCW Companion '24: Companion Publication of the 2024 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, Pages 748 - 751 (https://doi.org/10.1145/3678884.368183). Nov 11, 2024.
• “AI & Inclusive Hiring Framework” (Co-Author of NIST AI RMF Profile), Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology, Sept 24, 2024.
• “Accessible captions in 360॰ video” (Invited Contributor), W3C Final Community Group Final Report. Apr 8, 2024.
• “Briefing on AI, Accessibility & Accommodations” (Invited Expert). US Secretary of Commerce and Members of the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC). Remarks to NAIAC as delivered Sept 26, 2023.
• “Using AI to support people with disability in the labour market: Opportunities and challenges” (Invited Contributor), OECD Artificial Intelligence Papers, Nov 24, 2023.
• “Crossing Over: Inclusion in Physical & Virtual Environments” (Author), Design Intelligence Media, Aug 16, 2023.
• “Disability Inclusion & Accessibility” - AI Audit Scheme & Training Course (Co-Author), AI Third Party Independent Audit Scheme & Training Course, ForHumanity, Mar 2023.
• “Disability-Led Innovation: AI & Automated Hiring Practices” (Co-Author), Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT), Nov 2022.
• “Inclusive XR in the Workplace” (Co-Author), XR white paper and XR companion brief, XR Association and Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology, 2021.
• Patent: “Automated Wayfinding of an Accessible Route” (#US9909880B2). November 9, 2015.
• "Measuring public-transport accessibility using pervasive mobility data” (Co-Author), IEEE Pervasive Computing (Vol: 12, Issue: 1, Jan-Mar 2013), Page(s): 26 - 33 (https://doi.org/10.1109/MPRV.2012.81). Nov 15, 2012.
• Accessible self-service kiosks can help companies innovate, Future Travel Experience / APEX. May 2, 2011.

Degrees with Year of Award

M.S., Information Design & Technology (now Digital Media), Georgia Tech, 1998. Thesis Project: The Hill & Beyond: A history of Georgia Tech as seen through its architecture.

B.F.A., Interdisciplinary Major, Atlanta College of Art (now SCAD Atlanta), 1990.