Kāhu ki Rotorua: Wero to govt policy over data stored overseas

Data ILG Technician and co-author, Professor Tahu Kukutai. Photo / Supplied

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

See below for English translation

He waka ako torowhānui e mau ai ngā tikanga

E whakataratara ana te pahi raraunga-ā-iwi ki te Kawanatanga o Aotearoa mōna e whātoro atu ai ki te raraunga o whenua kē atu. Hai tā te pahi raraunga-ā-iwi kai Aotearoa nei tētehi oranga e anga atu ai te tangata me ngā pākihi ki te paetawhiti mēnā ia, te Kawanatanga e kaha whakapono mai ai.

Ko te tikanga o tēnei mea te raraunga ki tāwāhi.

He rīwhi i ngā amarara Kawanatanga e kaha tautoko ana i tēnei kaupapa ko te tuku i tetehi wāhanga mahi ki tētehi atu kamupene e noho mai nā ki tāwahi, ki tua o Aotearoa nei. Kai te hāngai tēnei kaupapa ki a tātou te Māori, ki te raraunga, ki te whakahaumaru-ā-mūrau.

Ko tētehi o ngā tino take kai te whāia tēnei ara e etehi he mea pēhi i te kaha o te utu tangata me te whakahaere kamupene.

Engari hai tā Te Kāhui Raraunga te ringa mahi o te Pahi raraunga-ā-iwi (Data IL) me huri kē mai te Kawanatanga ki tō tātou ake whenua ki te whakapakari ki te tuku mana ki te whakauru pūtea kia noho kē mai tēnei āhuatanga ki tēnei whenua ake.

Kātahi nei ka puta mai tētehi rīpoata nā Te Kāhui Raraunga i tuhi, ko tana ūpoko kōrero e kī ana, ' Ko te rangatiratanga o te raraunga Māori me te tuku i te raraunga Māori ki whenua kē atu', e whakataratarangia ana e ngā mātanga o whenua kē atu e kore mana ana ngā ratonga o tēnei whenua, ka rua, e ngoikore hoki ana te mana haepapa o ēnei ratonga.

Hai tā Ahurewa Tahu Kukutai te pūkenga raraunga mā Te Kāhui Raraunga, he mea miramira e te rīpoata kia wha pou raraunga Māori e maharahara ai te ngākau ki ngā take o te pupuri me te mana raraunga.

Tuatahi ake ko te mana, ko te tuarua ko te mana whakahaere, tuatoru mai ko te arero tika ko te pou tuawha ko te pou-tiakitanga.

"E hora ake nei ētehi rautaki ko tētehi ko te whakapakari i te rautaki penapena e piki ake ai te kaha o te aronga o te hāpori ki te ao o te matihiko e rangatira ai te mana motuhake o te raraunga Māori."

Hai tāna ko te whakatairanga i tēnei āhuatanga tētehi o ngā wāhanga nui e noho nei i raro i te mana me te māuri o te Tiriti o Waitangi nā reira me noho matua tēnei kaupapa ki te aroaro o te Kāwanantanga.

Ko tētehi whakaaro i puta mai i tēnei rīpoata kia noho hoa haere te iwi Māori me te Kawanatanga he tikanga tēnei e hoki kau noa ana ki te herenga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Me noho tātou te Māori ki te tēpu whakatakoto tikanga, ki ngā reanga katoa e noho haumaru ai te mana o te raraunga e kōrerongia e tatou ki tēnei whenua, mātua ki whai waha hoki ai tātou ki te whakatakoto tikanga e hāngai nā ki kōhanga nui e kī a nei ko te kōhanga kapua e noho mai nana ki te puku o Tūkapua.

Ko tētehi anō whakaaro matua i hua ake i te rīpoata kia whakaurua hoki tētehi tikanga tiaki i te mana o te raraunga Māori ki ngā kirimana.

"Me āta tātari, me āta takahi hoki tēnei ara e te kāwanatanga kia tika ā mua kia kāua ia e hoki noa atu ki te whakamātatara i ngā aka whiwhiwhi, me whakarangatira hoki e te kāwanatanga te mana o te raraunga ki a noho ia ki te taumata ōrite ki ngā taonga ā tātou te Māori," hai tā Kukutai.

E mea ana hoki te pepa ki a tū tātou ki te whakamatahao i ngā tūāpapa kia ū, ki a mau, ki a noho ōrite ia ki te kaha ki te whakapiki i te mana o ngā ohu mahi i Aotearoa nei ki a rangatira tana tū i te ātea nui o te ao.

Kua hainatia tetehi kirimana e Te Kāhui Raraunga me Te Tari Taiwhenua me te Amokura nui matihao mō te Kawanatanga i te Hune o te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā tahi. Ko Mana Ōrite te whakaritenga.

E mahi tahi nei ēnei pahi ki a pupuri ai te tirohanga ā te Māori ki tēnei kaupapa nui whakaharahara ara ko te raraunga hai awhina, hai tohutohu, hai manaaki i te kāwanatanga ki a kāua te ia o te Māori e memeha.

E ai ki te tiamana o Te Kāhui Raraunga ki a Rāhui Papa, ko te waka raraunga Māori nei, he waka ako torowhānui e mau ai ngā tikanga o tātou te Māori hai kauawhiwhi i a Ngai tātou katoa ki a kōtahi ai te hoe i te awa o te ao raraunga i te ao hou nei.— Na Raimona Inia tenei purongo i whakamaoritia

Data Iwi Leaders Group have challenged Government as it increasingly offshores New Zealand data, saying there are long-term benefits to investing in local data infrastructure instead.

Offshoring data refers to the replacement of Government agencies backing offshoring New Zealand – including Māori — data, cite greater security and reduced costs as key factors.

However Data Iwi Leaders Group (Data ILG), through its operational arm, Te Kāhui Raraunga, say Government should instead strengthen and invest in local options for data onshoring and procurement.

In a new report commissioned by Te Kāhui Raraunga, titled Māori data sovereignty and offshoring Māori data, international experts challenge assumptions that local services are inherently less secure and less reliable.

Data ILG Technician and co-author, Professor Tahu Kukutai, says the paper highlights how four Māori data sovereignty principles (control, jurisdiction, accountabilities and guardianship) are relevant to issues of data storage and jurisdiction.

"Considering a suite of options, including strategic investment in locally-hosted solutions would both enhance the public service drive for digital transformation and give greater effect to Māori data sovereignty."

She says upholding the principles of Māori data sovereignty is crucial for the Government to meet its responsibilities to Te Tiriti.

The paper recommends that Māori, as a Tiriti partner, are involved in policy setting and system-level decisions regarding the digital public service transformation, All-of- Government procurement policies and use of onshore and offshore Cloud-based services.

The paper also recommends Māori data sovereignty requirements are incorporated into contractual agreements for the use of onshore and offshore Cloud-based services.

"Government needs to take a more long-term strategic approach to treating data as an intergenerational taonga and invest in a wider range of options beyond public Cloud (offshore)," Professor Kukutai says.

The paper identifies that a proactive approach to strengthening local infrastructure also aligns with calls to invest in developing local workforce capability to lift Aotearoa's global competitiveness.

Data ILG signed a Mana Ōrite Relationship agreement with the Department of Internal Affairs and the Government Chief Digital Officer in June 2021.

Together, the organisations are working to provide a te ao Māori lens over how Māori data sovereignty can and should be considered through the Government's adoption of Cloud services.

Data ILG Chairman, Rahui Papa, says Māori data sovereignty offers a holistic, tikanga- led approach that is inherently relational and is about driving towards better data relationships for all.