Owning the Evidence – Indigenous Data Sovereignty as Strategic Economic Infrastructure
Tracks
Concurrent Room 2
| Thursday, August 6, 2026 |
| 12:15 PM - 12:35 PM |
| Concurrent Room 2 |
Overview
Lindsay Bridge, First Nations Economics
Details
1. Indigenous Data Sovereignty is not only a rights framework but a form of economic infrastructure that strengthens governance, investment readiness and long-term regional development.
2. Community engagement can move beyond consultation when data is community-controlled, culturally governed and translated into actionable evidence that informs policy, capital allocation and strategic decision-making.
3. Indigenous-led digital systems designed through participatory co-design can embed consent, custodianship and accountability, creating practical pathways for linking people, place and development across Northern Australia.
Speaker
Mr Lindsay Bridge
Director
First Nations Economics
Owning the Evidence – Indigenous Data Sovereignty as Strategic Economic Infrastructure
Presentation Overview
This presentation reflects on the changes that occur when Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) is taken seriously. Not as a principle to acknowledge, but as something that reshapes how we think about strategy, integrity and development.
Across Northern Australia, significant investment is made in infrastructure and economic growth. Yet the evidence that informs those decisions, community knowledge, priorities and lived experience, remains largely externally defined, captured and controlled.
This is not just a governance issue. It is an economic one.
Where communities do not control how their knowledge is captured, interpreted and used, their ability to shape service delivery, investment and planning is limited. This shows up as misalignment, inefficiency and lost opportunity.
What has become clear through this work is that IDS functions less like a safeguard and more like infrastructure. It directly influences the quality of decisions, the strength of strategy and the integrity of engagement.
A consistent challenge is translation. Cultural governance systems such as authority, custodianship and consent do not naturally align with data systems or decision frameworks. When these are not translated into clear classifications, permissions and rules, they remain acknowledged but not operational.
Where this translation is present, the shift is tangible.
Engagement moves from extraction to contribution.
Data moves from reporting to decision-making.
Strategy is grounded in evidence that communities recognise and stand behind.
The session will explore:
• What IDS reveals about gaps in current economic thinking
• How it reshapes strategy and decision-making in practice
• The challenge of translating cultural governance into system logic
• What changes in engagement when control shifts
If community-controlled evidence is treated as part of development infrastructure, IDS stops being something we do and starts shaping what gets built, how, and for whom.
Across Northern Australia, significant investment is made in infrastructure and economic growth. Yet the evidence that informs those decisions, community knowledge, priorities and lived experience, remains largely externally defined, captured and controlled.
This is not just a governance issue. It is an economic one.
Where communities do not control how their knowledge is captured, interpreted and used, their ability to shape service delivery, investment and planning is limited. This shows up as misalignment, inefficiency and lost opportunity.
What has become clear through this work is that IDS functions less like a safeguard and more like infrastructure. It directly influences the quality of decisions, the strength of strategy and the integrity of engagement.
A consistent challenge is translation. Cultural governance systems such as authority, custodianship and consent do not naturally align with data systems or decision frameworks. When these are not translated into clear classifications, permissions and rules, they remain acknowledged but not operational.
Where this translation is present, the shift is tangible.
Engagement moves from extraction to contribution.
Data moves from reporting to decision-making.
Strategy is grounded in evidence that communities recognise and stand behind.
The session will explore:
• What IDS reveals about gaps in current economic thinking
• How it reshapes strategy and decision-making in practice
• The challenge of translating cultural governance into system logic
• What changes in engagement when control shifts
If community-controlled evidence is treated as part of development infrastructure, IDS stops being something we do and starts shaping what gets built, how, and for whom.
Biography
Lindsay is a proud Gija man with over 25 years’ experience delivering strategic outcomes across government, industry and community sectors. He has held senior roles in the Western Australian Government, specialising in regional economic development, investment strategy, policy design and local government service delivery. Lindsay also led First Nations-focused consultancy at EY, delivering programs for the Australian Rural Leadership Program and the Australian Major Projects Leadership Academy. He is committed to culturally grounded governance, authentic engagement and land-based economic development that aligns economic ambition with community values and delivers meaningful outcomes for First Nations communities.
