The northern voice: Listening to indigenous and northern perspectives on management of data in Canada

Abstract

The Canadian Cryospheric Information Network and Polar Data Catalogue (CCIN/PDC) provide: (1) a trusted archive to store data from Canadian cryospheric research and (2) a public access portal to this information. The CCIN/PDC has since expanded its collection to include data from health, ecological, social, and other sciences. Since its inception, CCIN/PDC has engaged Indigenous and northern Canadians to understand and meet their information needs. This paper describes three instances of such engagement and next steps for enhanced interaction and support. First, feedback from northern and Indigenous communities led to the development of PDC Lite. Compared to the full-featured online PDC Search application, PDC Lite accommodates slower Internet speeds and allows one to search by particular northern communities. PDC Lite continues to be improved by input from the people that it serves. Next, to facilitate discussion and strengthen collaborative relationships within the polar data community, CCIN/PDC co-hosted two major meetings in 2015. Emerging from both these events was a need to prioritize what has been termed human interoperability and the need to have Indigenous and northern community involvement at all levels of data management. Future plans for CCIN/PDC include more effective partnerships in which we work with and listen to northern and Indigenous Canadians to better understand their requirements for data management services and expertise. Our ultimate goal is to provide, through collaboration with partners, data, information, and expertise that facilitate northern and Indigenous Canadians’ access to publicly-archived data and enable and support management of their own data and resources.