Tending to the Data Garden: Empowering whānau through data systems

Catalyst is excited to celebrate the launch of Te Māra o Hine-Raraunga, a framework for whānau voice data solutions we developed with Āti Awa Toa Hauora Partnership Board, Manatū Hauora, and Nicholson Consulting. The framework explores how whānau voice can be protected, governed and used in ways that uphold tikanga Māori, Māori data sovereignty and tino rangatiratanga.

Data is a taonga. Whānau voice data needs dedicated and culturally grounded governance to ensure it is protected and used effectively to empower iwi Māori and support Māori health priorities. This was the foundation that Chris Cormack, Kaihuawaere Matihiko, and Aleisha Amohia, Rōpū kohinga Technical Lead, leaned on throughout this partnership.

For Māori, data is the new whenua. It represents identity, and our connections to our origins and each other. This understanding led Chris and Aleisha to the metaphor of the data garden - Te Māra o Hine-Raraunga. The garden is a metaphorical foundation and practical blueprint for data ecosystems that nourish rather than extract. It symbolises a system where Māori can flourish through carefully cultivated data practices, just as the body is nourished through a well-managed garden.

Drawing inspiration from the metaphor, Toni Gardiner, Designer and Front End Developer at Catalyst, created illustrations for Te Māra o Hine-Raraunga. They show the māra lifecycle: whenua, kākano, governance, protection, and sharing the hua.

Nicholson Consulting led wānanga and landscape research to map what we understand about Māori data governance and how it intersects with technology. The Māori Data Governance Model from Te Kāhui Raraunga stood out as the optimal framework in this space. This framework rests entirely on the ground that the Māori Data Governance Model has already prepared.

As Chris and Aleisha turned insights gained from the wānanga and research into a technical framework, they determined that the solution should be open source software. Open source is the only way to achieve code sovereignty while honouring community-based values, which naturally show up in te ao Māori - whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, mahi tahi. 

Te Māra o Hine-Raraunga

Te Māra o Hine-Raraunga includes:

• an assessment of key challenges
• the core components of a strong whānau voice data system, and
• a four-stage pathway for how iwi-Māori partnership boards can move toward a sovereign, fit-for-purpose system

The staged pathway is a roadmap. It acknowledges that the ideal state will take time and investment to reach, and every organisation holding whānau voice data is starting from a different place. Sometimes we need to make compromises to move forward. The roadmap represents that progression can be broken down into smaller steps, and mana motuhake is a journey that must be taken with care and purpose.

We were honoured to be part of this kaupapa, alongside Āti Awa Toa Hauora Partnership Board, Manatū Hauora, and Nicholson Consulting.