Integrated data and indigenous data governance – an international academic perspective

Last week, Stats NZ hosted its third Raraunga Ara Rau session in partnership with the Social Wellbeing Agency. We were lucky enough to have Professor Matt Snipp from Stanford University present to us, focusing on the topic of international perspectives on data sovereignty and how to be inclusive of the needs of indigenous populations, particularly around enabling authority over how indigenous data is used.

In a dominantly digital age, data has become the necessity of decision making across various domains. This global shift towards data-driven governance has started a discussion within academia about ethical considerations that should be made when it comes to indigenous communities and their data.

Professor Snipp challenged us to flip the thinking on integrated data and to connect to data around particular use cases, rather than collecting for any that are forthcoming. He also challenged us to be inclusive of the needs of indigenous populations, particularly around enabling authority over how indigenous data is used. Snipp said, “the importance of data sovereignty for indigenous people means access to knowledge, preservation of knowledge, managing how they are known by others, ensuring the safety and well-being of the community, and protecting individuals within that community", he also commented that “issues of privacy and confidentiality are huge in tribal communities”.

Integrated data and indigenous data governance is a pressing concern in today’s academic conversation. While integrated data can offer tremendous benefits, it is important that it’s approached with sensitivity around the rights of independence within indigenous communities.

Professor Snipp concluded that “indigenous communities must be empowered to determine who belongs among them…the content of decolonized indigenous data must reflect the interests, values and priorities of Native people”.

A special thanks to Professor Matt Snipp for joining us to speak at this event and sharing his wealth of knowledge and insights, and to Craig Jones, Deputy Chief Executive, Data System Leadership; Louise Pirini, Manager Analytics (SWA); Aphra Green, Deputy Chief Executive, Policy, Data and Insights (SWA); and Andrew Sporle, Te Rourou Tātaritanga, for their contribution towards this event.

You can watch the full talk by visiting Raraunga Ara Rau speaker series: Integrated data and indigenous data governance – an international academic perspective via YouTube.

To be added to the contact list for future events, please contact dataspeakerseries@stats.govt.nz.

Andrew Sporle speaking during the Raraunga Ara Rau series

Louise Pirini, Andrew Sporle and Professor Snipp at Raraunga Ara Rau.