Indigenous Data Sovereignty
Asian Framework on Indigenous Knowledge and Data Sovereignty
Indigenous Knowledge in Asia
In Asia, the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into conservation approaches — let alone AI systems — without respect for IPs’ sovereign rights over their knowledge and collective governance rights could exacerbate existing human rights abuses of IPs and further displace them from their territories. This is currently the practice across the Asian continent. With an estimated IP population of more than 411 million, the imperative to protect Indigenous knowledge systems is evident given their contribution to mitigating the climate crisis, its impact on their livelihoods, and the ongoing persecution of Indigenous environmental defenders.
IDS complicates the current understanding of data — which is based on Western notions of individual ownership and use through copyright and licensing — and directs attention to the power relationships and post-colonial dynamics in existing data agendas.
Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) is a way to protect TEK and ensure that IPs have the right to control data and retain knowledge to protect their sovereign right to self-determination and the subsequent ability to govern and manage their lands and territories for the common good. IDS refers to “Indigenous peoples’ possession of the locus of authority over the management of data about their communities, territories, and ways of life” (Kukutai & Taylor, 2016).
In other words, it refers to how IPs control the ways in which such data are collected, manipulated, managed, and used by themselves and by governments, corporations, and development agencies.
Knowledge ecosystems
The Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) partners of the Open Development Initiative (ODI) and K4D have formulated an Asian Indigenous Knowledge and Data Sovereignty Framework (IKDS) that hopes to integrate IP knowledge systems into regional agendas. They not only acknowledge and recognize the right to self-determination but also affirm the sovereignty of their data, which is derived through their epistemology and ontology.
Nature Based Solutions (NbS)
In this brief, we address the risks associated with technology-enabled NbS solutions, such as epistemic injustice and the commodification of nature. In the context of low and middle-income countries in Asia, the absence of strong human rights and regulatory frameworks on land tenure has led to displacement and fueled discrimination and oppression of Indigenous Peoples and marginalized resource-dependent communities. While technological solutions are hailed as a panacea in the pursuit of NbS, these will play out in the context of digital divides, driving the concentration of power in the hands of a few actors.
AI-based climate action
Can traditional ecological knowledge and Indigenous data sovereignty contribute to AI-powered climate action while respecting Indigenous rights? This report examines these nexuses between Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and AI on the rights of IP to uphold their self-determination rights within an increasingly digital world.
New technology and the environment
This chapter explores how over 100 Indigenous and ethnically distinct communities in the region have struggled to retain their autonomy, while taking note of the significant barriers they face in asserting their rights to their identity — as well as over their land and the natural resources located therein. It discusses, in particular, how new technology could be inclusively leveraged to centre the needs of Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities (IEM) communities while protecting their rights and connection to the natural environment.
IDS in the Mekong
Indigenous and ethnic minorities (IEM) within the Mekong countries have unique struggles, a general theme emerges: access to land and natural resources. This paper discusses how open data policies focused on Indigenous Data Sovereignty, applied to create a coordinated network, has contributed to the public provision of data and its use in land claims in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.