Catalyst is committed to being a good Te Tiriti partner. This means actively working to uphold the principles of Te Tiriti in how we operate, who we partner with, and how we contribute to the future of Aotearoa, and the people who call it home. We recognise that technology decisions have implications for sovereignty, data ownership, and cultural respect. Part of our responsibility is ensuring that technology serves all New Zealanders and respects the rights and interests of tangata whenua.
We’re a non-Māori organisation. We can’t do tino rangatiratanga or mana motuhake — we understand those are for Māori to exercise, not ours to enable. What we can do is build technology that doesn’t get in the way. We can offer systems and data that remain under their control, open source foundations that they can take elsewhere if we stop being useful, infrastructure that respects Māori data sovereignty principles, and honest, long-term partnership.
We understand we aren’t experts in te ao Māori, so we can’t promise we’ll always get it right. But we commit to learning and listening before building.
The tikanga we practise: Whakawhanaungtanga, Mahi tahi, Manaakitanga.
