ROUND TABLE 2 | DAY 1 | 9:30am-10:30am | BALLROOM I

| ALEC CALAC (Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians), UC San Diego School of Medicine, UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science

| JOSEPH YRACHETA (Pūrepecha – Mexican Indigenous), Native BioData Consortium

| TIM K. MACKEY, Professor, UC San Diego Department of Anthropology, S-3 Research Institute

The rapid development of digital technologies may outpace responsible ethics and engagement with Indigenous Peoples. To narrow this divide, tribal governments, community members and researchers are interested in governing these tools in a manner that respects the sovereign authority of AI/AN Tribes and Villages in the U.S. By operationalizing Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS), these technologies can be used to advance Indigenous health equity and economic prosperity, while avoiding extraction of sensitive data from Indigenous Peoples. In this session, we will present a collaboration between the Native BioData Consortium, Tribes in the US Northern Plains Region, and UC San Diego to incorporate blockchain into the design, operation, and management of a tribally-directed precision medicine program.  Blockchain, which is a form of distributed ledger technology, enables data provenance, increases transparency, and can enhance trust within a distributed network, and is currently being explored for a range of healthcare applications, including managing genomic data.  Presenters will detail the process of collaborative exploration and design of a blockchain system rooted in Indigenous community engagement carried out via workshops, key informant interviews, and working with a community advisory board. This will include discussion of barriers and facilitators to designing a privacy-preserving system that equally respects the preferences and rights of individuals and communities, while also providing an overview of a prototype version of the blockchain governance system developed through this process. Mapping the principles of IDS into blockchain represents a significant exercise in tribal self-determination and has applications ranging from healthcare to economics, and beyond.