Whāki Webinar Hepetema - Māori Research Data Sovereignty Activation within universities

This webinar explored how Māori Research Data Sovereignty can be activated within universities through three interconnected areas: data findability, data governance, and community engagement. Drawing on our respective research and practice, we considered how universities can move from recognising Māori data sovereignty to embedding it meaningfully within their research data ecosystems. Thank you to our wonderful speakers: Dr Paul Brown (Tainui, Ngāti Hikairo) is a Lecturer in Statistics at the University of Waikato. His research includes computational Bayesian inference, statistical modelling, and Māori data sovereignty. On this front, he has been involved in projects that focus on the use of Māori data in government operational algorithms and findability of Indigenous data in large data systems. Dr Kiri West is an Indigenous researcher, kaupapa Māori theoriser, communication lecturer and reluctant storyteller. Her research background includes Māori data sovereignty, tikanga, and technology and research ethics. In an increasingly digitised world, she is interested in the ways in which we can give meaning to the above fields through the telling of our own stories. Dr Maree Sheehan (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Raukawa, Ngāti Tahu- Ngāti Whaoa, Clan Sheehan Clan Marshall) is a composer, sound artist and creative practitioner whose work centres on Indigenous sound, wāhine Māori narratives, and environmental listening. Working across film, television, multi-channel installation and immersive sonic environments, her practice positions oro (sound) and ihirangaranga (vibration) as carriers of mauri and identity. In 2025–2026, she continues as Kairangahau Matua (Toi) at Te Manawahoukura Research Centre.