{"id":45,"date":"2022-11-16T15:19:10","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T02:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/?page_id=45"},"modified":"2022-11-16T16:04:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T03:04:02","slug":"associate-professor-katharina-rucksthul-on-going-digital","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/associate-professor-katharina-rucksthul-on-going-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"Associate Professor Katharina Rucksthul"},"content":{"rendered":"

Associate Professor Katharina Rucksthul<\/strong><\/p>\n

Associate Dean M\u0101ori <\/strong><\/p>\n

The University of Otago <\/strong><\/p>\n

Many New Zealand businesses depend on the internet to transact business, with COVID-19 accelerating this momentum. M\u0101ori businesses are no different. Online e-commerce platforms such as Hokohoko were a direct response in 2020 to help small M\u0101ori businesses in tough times.<\/p>\n

Such platforms are the outward face of a collective approach to M\u0101ori business. Behind the scenes, M\u0101ori are also considering the data that is essential to online transactions. Some describe such data as the \u2018new oil\u2019, given that data flows within and beyond national borders. While platforms like Netflix, Alibaba and Meta have used sophisticated and increasingly automated data algorithms to capture consumer insights at global scale, governments likewise have treasure troves of data.<\/p>\n

M\u0101ori have been scrutinising how governments draw insight from data. As Aboriginal author Maggie Walter describes it, such analysis often reflects a \u201c5D\u201d viewpoint of difference, disparity, disadvantage, dysfunction, and deprivation. With a M\u0101ori economy estimated at about $70 billion and rising, it is in everyone\u2019s interest to revisit such analysis and use data insights to identify successes to boost M\u0101ori and the nation\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n

However, who gets to define well-being? Many M\u0101ori view te reo and tikanga as essential to well-being and success. And, as suggested in a recent Productivity Commission report on frontier firms, M\u0101ori cultural values can lead to superior market performance. Therefore, when it comes to data, M\u0101ori view a cultural lens as crucial.<\/p>\n

One issue is that most data does not come with a M\u0101ori lens. For example, how does one consider a whakapapa approach to data? Nor is most data subject to M\u0101ori oversight, or rangatiratanga. Some of this played out in late 2021 when a Wh\u0101nau Ora group took legal action against the Ministry of Health to release COVID vaccination data to support M\u0101ori individuals with historically poor health outcomes. Issues of data privacy versus a M\u0101ori collective approach highlighted the tensions in a M\u0101ori-oriented perspective of data use.<\/p>\n

This is not a new issue, either in New Zealand or internationally. The European Union is the global leader in this respect and in 2018 passed privacy and security laws that target organisations anywhere in the world \u2013 including in New Zealand – if they collect data on EU citizens. This can be seen as an example of data sovereignty and the right to decide as a Nation or collective of Nations as to how data is collected and used.<\/p>\n

Many Indigenous people also see themselves as nations, whether they are nations within Nation States, such as in the US or Canada, or where there is a strong and distinguishing nation-like identity, as is the case with many iwi. In this context, data sovereignty derives from a desire to build strong Indigenous nations both through the ability to make decisions about how others use data, as in the COVID-19 case, but also how it might inform decision-making, that is, data for governance.<\/p>\n

Having some say over data to make good decisions for a tribal nation\u2019s well-being, including the well-being of their environment, lies at the heart of M\u0101ori data sovereignty. But this can be a difficult task when data collection and analysis only reflects others\u2019 priorities. For example, researchers have revealed how algorithms based on biased data have discriminated against women, minorities or people of colour in areas as diverse as hiring, credit-worthiness, housing and justice.<\/p>\n

One way to mitigate this is being trialled in New Zealand. In 2019 an agreement was developed between Stats NZ and the Data Iwi Leaders Group of the National Iwi Chairs Forum to realise the potential of data to make a sustainable, positive difference to outcomes for iwi, hap\u016b, and wh\u0101nau. Such data can drive decisions in many areas and help iwi and other M\u0101ori focussed users to specify their local resource needs and identify opportunities, whether social, cultural, environmental or economic.<\/p>\n

Globally, the Indigenous data sovereignty movement is reframing data discussions within an Indigenous ethic. While much of the M\u0101ori data sovereignty discussion in New Zealand has been in the public and research sectors, there are implications for the private sector too. For example, how can the private sector work with M\u0101ori collectives to explore concepts such as rangatiratanga, whakapapa, or kaitiaki when it comes to data? Can such insights create new business models and highlight opportunities and what data governance and infrastructure might be required?<\/p>\n

There is no one answer to such questions. However, both the private and public sectors need to be involved in the discussion for M\u0101ori and broader New Zealand to realise the nation\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Associate Professor Katharina Rucksthul Associate Dean M\u0101ori The University of Otago Many New Zealand businesses depend on the internet to transact business, with COVID-19 accelerating this momentum. M\u0101ori businesses are no different. Online e-commerce platforms such as Hokohoko were a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44853,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-45","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44853"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/talkbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}