Speakers

Moka Apiti

(Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Te Wehi, Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Porou and Te Whanau a Apanui).·Te Kāhui Raraunga

Moka is a Technical Advisor for Waikato Tainui on the Data Iwi Leaders Group, the Te Whata Program Manager and Digital Technician on Te Kāhui Raraunga.

Moka has a Master of Philosophy from the University of Waikato majoring in Geographic Information Systems and is currently enrolled at Massey University to undertake his Phd.

He has worked as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) consultant in the GIS sector for nearly 30 years primarily with Māori and Indigenous communities. To date, Moka has worked with most iwi across New Zealand and Indigenous communities in Hawaii, Canada, the United States and the Middle East

Moka is the Managing Director of Digital Navigators Ltd. Moka was the Chair and Treaty Claims Manager for Te Rūnanganui of Ngāti Hikairo, and a Technical Advisor for Waikato Tainui on the Iwi Leaders Data Forum. Moka was the Technical Advisor for Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou, and Te Taitokerau for the Maori Land Service Project in 2017. Moka is a Google Earth Outreach Trainer and is on the Google Education Advisory Board which consists of international digital technology experts who advise Google and deliver technology training internationally. Moka has worked with Massey University to deliver GIS workshops as part of the Puhoro Academy STEM programme. He has held roles as the Chair of Te Kaahui Manu Hookai – the National Maori GIS Association, a Director of HistoryWorks Ltd, a Director of Te Potiki Trust, and was the GIS Advisor for the US Agency for International Development stationed in Iraq in 2008.

Gianna Leoni

(Ngāti Kuri, Ngāi Takoto, Te Aupōuri)·Te Hiku Media

Gianna Leoni is a Data Specialist at Te Hiku Media. Te Hiku Media, also known as Te Reo Irirangi o Te Hiku o Te Ika, is an iwi radio, media and technology hub based in Kaitāia that was founded in 1991. The not-for-profit, charitable organisation is connected to the five iwi of the Far North; Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri, Ngāi Takoto, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu. The organisation's history determines its continued purpose to contribute to the revitalisation of te reo me ōna tikanga. Te Hiku Media are staunch advocates for Indigenous sovereignty over Indigenous data. They are kaitiaki, not owners, of the language data they hold, and have created a Kaitiakitanga License that states that the tools created from the data will be managed under tikanga Māori and guardianship.

Lee Timutimu

(Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou)·Arataki Systems

CEO of Arataki Systems, Lee founded Arataki in 2016. Arataki Systems is a proudly Māori owned, whanau business that builds digital cultural storytelling platforms and end-to-end technology solutions. Arataki is run by Māori tech entrepreneurs who have developed NZ’s first proximity activated cultural content delivery platform. It offers a virtual self-guided fully immersive cultural experience. The platform seamlessly connects users with cultural content and information, at the right time, in the right location.

Te Taka Keegan

(Waikato-Maniapoto; Ngāti Porou; Ngāti Whakaaue)·The University of Waikato

Associate Professor Te Taka Keegan received a Diploma in Computer Engineering from CIT (Wellington) in 1987. He spent six years working as a hardware engineer for Datacom and Digital before returning to the Waikato and Waikato University. He received a BA through the Te Tohu Paetahi stream (Māori immersion) and in 1996 was awarded an MA having completed a thesis on traditional navigation. Te Taka worked with the Māori Department and then in 1997 switched to the Computer Science Department. He completed a PhD in 2007, titled Indigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai.

Te Taka has worked on a number of projects involving the Māori language and technology. These include the Māori Niupepa Collection, Te Kete Ipurangi, the Microsoft keyboard, Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office in Māori, Moodle in Māori, Google Web Search in Māori, and the Māori macroniser. In 2009 Te Taka spent 6 months with Google in Mountain View as a visiting scientist assisting with the Google Translator Toolkit for Māori. Further work with Google led to Translate in Māori.

In 2013 Te Taka was awarded the University of Waikato's Māori/Indigenous Excellence Award for Research. In 2017 Te Taka was awarded the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.