E te whānau nei rā te mihi nō Aotearoa

Greetings from Aotearoa as we celebrate the beginning of our new year, which was heralded by the rise of our beloved Matariki shining in our southern skies. This Special Issue on Data and Digital Sovereignty is timely for Aotearoa (New Zealand) and other Indigenous people around the world, as many things are happening in data, successes as well as challenges.

In Aotearoa, Māori have achieved some hard-fought for victories, such as the Government recently announcing in our favour a Wellbeing budget which provides a committed platform to address the appalling Māori statistics in all sectors experienced by whānau (families) in Aotearoa. The Waitangi Tribunal – Report Primary Health has also been released, which finds the Crown in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. The report makes only two recommendations – modification to current legislation and the establishment of a standalone Māori Health Authority. Like these landmark changes the Special Digital and Data Sovereignty Issue that we have the honour to release provides a positive movement forward for our sovereignty and self-determination.

The Patron of Te Mauri - Pimatisiwin, Barry Bublitz (Editorial Board, International Indigenous Council Healing Our Spirit Worldwide), welcomes new research methodologies that support a global indigenous well-being approach. ‘Digital and Data Sovereignty’ may be new to him, but sovereignty or how as he likes to term it – rangatiratanga, is not. We need to embrace new innovative research models that capture and maintain Indigenous intelligence, that contributes to defining Indigeneity sources in forming a sustainable wellness approach. Barry looks forward to this special issue of Te Mauri - Pimatisiwin and the ability it will have in providing an Indigenous capability in the use of Indigenous data.

This Special Issue on Data and Digital Sovereignty also comes on the back of a disappointing breakdown from the Statistics New Zealand who revealed one in seven New Zealanders failed to fully complete the newly devised $113 million allocated online system for the 2018 Census. It has been confirmed that five per cent of responses were incomplete, equating to about 240,000 people. When added to the approximate 480,000 who missed the survey altogether, this means 700,000 New Zealanders did not complete the 2018 Census. For this reason, the integrity of the official statistics system and Stats NZ has been challenged and raised questions about what this mean for Māori in terms of equitable allocation of government resources in terms of health, education, and social needs? This reminds us of the reality that, as Indigenous people, we must stay vigilant.

On behalf of the Journal team, we thank Dr Kukutai, who leads Te Mana Rauranga Māori Data Sovereignty for Aotearoa, for the insightful commentary she has provided for this issue and the clarity provided on Data Sovereignty, so those who know little about it can understand its growth and importance and acceptance of the data rights of all Indigenous people. We also thank Dr Amohia Bouton, one of our Aotearoa Editorial Board Members, for her leadership in providing the editorial for this special issue and acknowledge the wisdom of all the authors who provided submissions for this Special Digital and Data Sovereignty Issue.