Improving Indigenous Research Capabilities: An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Data Commons

Project Details

Representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, organisations and communities across Australia, this project will review and refine national and international frameworks of Indigenous Data Governance (IDG) and Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) to collectively strengthen the foundations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data governance principles, of which will be translated and applied to Indigenous research data tools and infrastructure. The Indigenous Data Network (IDN) will deliver an Indigenous research capability program that celebrates, supports and enhances the capabilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and researchers at the interface of research data science and Indigenous knowledge systems.

The program will achieve this by working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to determine their engagement with, and aspirations for, their data. The program will be delivered by the development of three parallel streams of activities:

(1) Development of social architecture: Indigenous data governance and sovereignty
(2) Development of technical architecture: Building the foundations for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Data Commons
(3) Core National Indigenous Data Assets: Building an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Spatio-temporal Framework.

Collectively, the three activity streams will lay the foundations for building national Indigenous research capabilities, framed by a set of agreed Indigenous Data Governance principles that can leverage existing data assets, linking them with new and existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data assets. This project will generate a detailed account of research data ecosystems, including how research data is distributed and used for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

A core aim of this project is to develop Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research data capabilities by supporting and strengthening Indigenous social and technical research data architecture, bringing together key national stakeholders to collectively agree on a core set of Indigenous Data Governance principles and data for governance which will be applied to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research data, tools and analytical methods. This project seeks to ensure the cultural and ethical safety of the data and the individuals and communities from which the data is about.

The project will leverage ARDC capabilities, supporting institutions to share data more freely and cooperatively following the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and CARE data principles (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility and Ethics).

Expected Project Outputs

a. The development and application of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Governance Principles that are agreed on by experts and communities.
b. The application of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Governance Principles.
c. Improved understandings of Indigenous Research communities across Australia.
d. Improved understandings of Indigenous Research data across Australia.
e. The development of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Data Catalogue.
f. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data ‘rematriation’ prototyping.
g. The technical architecture will be based on a catalogue of data assets using DCAT-2, the international standard for interoperability between data catalogues published on the Web.

Researchers

Professor Marcia Langton
Dr Kristen Smith
Dr Vanessa Russ
Dr Len Smith
Professor Aaron Corn
Dr Kalinda Griffiths, University of New South Wales
Sam Provost, Australian National University
Dr Steven McEachern, Australian National University
Dr Lisa Strelein, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Tamsin Porter, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Stephanie von Gavel, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Dr Chris Bourke, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Professor Kerrie Mengerson, Queensland University of Technology
Professor Peter Anderson, Queensland University of Technology
Professor Matt Bellgard, Queensland University of Technology
Professor Rachel Thomas, Queensland University of Technology
Kirsten Thorpe, University of Technology Sydney
Professor Sandra Phillips, University of Queensland
Professor Greg Marston, University of Queensland
Professor Rachel Ankeny, University of Adelaide
Isaac Torres, Kimberley Aboriginal Health Research Alliance
Professor Alistair Paterson, University of Western Australia
Professor Jo McDonald, University of Western Australia

Partners

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Australian National University
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Empowered Communities
Kimberley Aboriginal Health Research Alliance
Queensland University of Technology
University of Adelaide
University of New South Wales
University of Queensland
University of Technology Sydney
University of Western Australia

Funder

Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC)

Visit the ARDC website to read more about the project announcement and project plan.

Project dates

2022-2023