Spatially Delineated Data Structures for Improved Understanding of Service Delivery to Indigenous Australians

Can a digital, geospatially enhanced data ecosystem incorporate Indigenous defined protocols, principles and approaches to achieve data democracy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples? In this paper we explore methods and tools available to create spatial and temporal enhancements to digital environments in order to reflect more intuitively the diverse and culturally unique way that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples see connectedness between culture, community, and land. We discuss how this vision can be reflected in the use of geometry, metadata, and linked or interrelated datasets. With the increase of ‘machine learning’ and the attendant increase in popularity of open source applications, there are newly accessible opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to build skills in these areas. Digital storytelling using these new technologies allows for the innovative visualization of objects, sounds and images - a natural step for people who have had to walk in two worlds. These technologies allow the combination of the ancient with the new. By combining the deep connection to, and cultural knowledge of, the land, with a digitally enhanced virtual representation of that connection, Aboriginal people and communities are now able to express and communicate their unique connection to this country in a powerful new way.