| JIM SILL, MS (Cherokee), CISSP CompTIA Sec+ Cyber Fellow, PhD Candidate and Data Privacy Researcher, University of Tulsa

I will speak on a novel AI application, and its new frontier.
 
Indigenous populations globally grapple with challenges such as land rights, cultural preservation, and data sovereignty. Historical colonial oversight, using tools like censuses, manipulated indigenous communities. The digital age amplifies data sovereignty concerns. Misaligned data collection can infringe upon indigenous cultural beliefs, with genetic advancements exposing deep genealogical family histories and health markers. This has raised issues of exploitation reminiscent of colonial practices, of marginalization, or integration particularly around consent.
 
Historically, indigenous community research often resulted in exploitation, with unauthorized data collection echoing colonial actions. As data becomes central to their sovereignty, indigenous governments need it for informed decision-making. We have seen change in many nation states in the past 4 years, and I believe we will see much more soon.
 
To address challenges, the development of a “Policy Perfecting Active Governance Application System” PPAGS offers an algorithm-based solution for data labeling & categorization. Using AI, it evaluates data in real-time, ensuring its secure and compliant in transit and in storage. This novel data sovereignty framework embeds indigenous values to proven security protocols, and promises agility & security, across multiple distributed systems.
 
It will require a shift in data perception and necessitates stakeholder education for effective implementation but will prove rewarding in the end. In sum, a PPAGS reconciles differing data sovereignty views, proposing an adaptable future. A “New Frontier” with exploration targets in Native American Nations in Oklahoma, as we seek early adopters for these innovative data philosophies