Integrating local Indigenous data with the regional data management system

Related to our role in the SP-SC Pilot Project, ESS has been contracted by the GBRF to investigate how locally produced data, collected and managed by Indigenous groups involved in the TO IMR might be integrated into the regional Data Management System, being developed through RIMReP. 

ESS has worked with the team developing the DMS to understand:

• The data management infrastructure and architecture that will be used to build and operate the DMS.
• What kinds of data will be managed using the DMS.
• Who will contribute data to the DMS.
• Who will use data from the DMS and for what purpose.
• How locally produced indigenous data might contribute to the DMS.
• The technical mechanisms for enabling this transfer between Indigenous databases/content management systems and the DMS.
• How the data in the DMS might assist local indigenous organisations, including as a source of information for their own monitoring and evaluation programs.
• The technical mechanisms that would enable information transfer from the DMS to local databases.

The information transfer between local indigenous groups and the DMS (and vice-versa) is readily achievable from a technical standpoint. However, understanding how this information will be used, or become useful to Traditional Owner groups or third parties, is more complicated and remains poorly defined. Understanding these ‘use cases’ is critical because it defines what data might be transferred between local and regional systems and the benefits that might arise from such transfer.

As such, ESS in the process of developing an initial use case to demonstrate how an Indigenous group would use DMS collections to inform their indictor assessments (as part of their monitoring framework). This use case has been identified and will be piloted before 30 June 2024. Use cases that show how Indigenous groups would share content to the DMS are still being explored.