From the President
Greetings as we head to the mid-winter solstice and the shortest day of the year.
I have mentioned in previous blogs that I am on a journey to complete my Doctor of Professional Practice where I am researching what influences the construction of professional identity for professional staff, specifically within vocational education. My journey has taken the more scenic route as I meander through tomes of literature and the many pages of transcripts from the 18 people I have interviewed. While I have been reading and reflecting, I have thought much more about the data I have collected. In my ‘day job’ as an organisational researcher, data has often been seen as the numbers and words collected to create a report so that our promotional team or leaders can say, ‘Oh aren’t we doing a great job, the reports show that “95% of our learners are happy”, or “75% of our graduates have jobs”’. But let’s think for a moment, where did the data come from to create those percentages?
Data is a collection of information provided by humans. Yes! Actual people like you and me. It hasn’t just arrived on your screen. So, who does the data belong to and what rights do you have to that data. The concept of data sovereignty has been gaining more prominence due to the increasing reliance on digital technologies and the global nature of dataflows. It addresses concerns about privacy, security, and compliance with local regulations and cultural norms.
Data sovereignty emphasises the right of individuals, organisations (like universities), and governments, to have control over their own data and determine how it is collected, stored, processed, and transferred. This means that data subjects should have the right to determine who can access their data, how it is used, and for what purposes. The institutions we work for that collect and process data also have a responsibility to protect the privacy and security of that data. I know for me, and I am sure many of you are nodding your heads as you read this, know that the protection and security of data that you collect and report is an integral part of your role and the reports that you create or analyse or report. A core fundamental value at the front of my mind when I am working with data is thinking and behaving as an ethical practitioner and remaining focused on doing no harm.
Increasingly, indigenous communities are raising their voices wanting data about them to be respected, and to have sovereignty over the data that is collected from them and about them. Ngapera Riley (Te Arawa) is the CEO of figure.nz and writes that all data is important because it can help us to understand our world and our community, to measure and monitor the impacts of actions we take, and to monitor our community’s wellbeing. From a Māori worldview, data is a living tāonga (treasure) with immense strategic value. It is an important tool in understanding the whenua (land) and the tangata whenua (people). It helps communities answer questions like how many people have ancestry to an iwi (tribe), where do they live, how are Māori learners doing in education, and what factors might change that. For many years, data has been used to inform narratives and policy decisions about Māori, but without their input. Collecting more and better quality data can help us to understand and solve issues, and to support the aspirations of communities.
Similarly, the Lowitja Institute states that in the past, research has too often been done ‘on’ rather than ‘for’ or ‘by’, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. Indigenous data sovereignty enables Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to accurately reflect their stories, knowledge, and experiences in research, and empowers them to make the best decisions to support their communities in the ways that meet their needs and aspirations.
So, for us as professionals working with data, it is important for us to stand back and think about our data as more than numbers and words, and ask ourselves:
- Has it been collected, analysed, and reported in a culturally safe way, which is reflective of the ways of knowing, being and doing, from different cultural and indigenous groups?
- Is it being reported in a way that is respectful of and meaningful to different groups, e.g. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, communities and organisations?
We are often collecting important information like ancestry, language, traditional knowledge, and land remaining in the hands of the communities it belongs to. As guardians of data, we have a duty of care to support indigenous oversight on the collection and use of sensitive information about indigenous communities. We should not be the vectors to enable data to be used to discriminate against any specific communities.
The next time you look at your data, try to look at it through a different worldview lens. Make friends with your data, get to know it, and get to know where it comes from. You have a treasure in your hands that, treated respectfully, can empower and support you in so many different ways.
Last week Leone Nurbasari, Associate Director, Reporting and Analytics at The Australian National University, who has been a long-term member of AAIR and an Executive Committee member since 2016, stood down from the committee. Leone has led and supported our membership portfolio, and has been the welcoming face at our ‘Newbie’ introduction webinars. Leone has generously shared her extensive knowledge of business intelligence and analytics, as well as a breadth of understanding of higher education to the AAIR Executive Committee, and to AAIR as an organisation. I have valued the extensive contribution she has made to the committee, and have always valued her open and welcoming approach.
We now have a vacancy on the Executive Committee, and I warmly welcome expressions of interest from any members who would like to join. If you are interested or keen to know more, please reach out to me or any of the Executive Committee members, or our Executive Officer, Liesha Northover. Come and share your knowledge and help AAIR continue to be one of the best professional associations in Australasia.
Stuart Terry
President, AAIR
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