Approaches for data management, collaboration and co-ownership in sámi engineering science

Abstract

The Sámi Parliament suggests the extension of the verdde tradition as a guiding strategy for collaboration within Sámi communities and between Sámi communities and non-Sámi institutions. An important mission for researchers and engineers within academia is to explore what this means for engineering science from a Sámi perspective. This impacts the models for technological research and the management of data within this research. While CARE and SODA principles outline generic guidelines for research ethics, they lack specifics regarding technological research.

The development of drone technology in reindeer husbandry is one example of engineering research that requires a multitude of data, which carries associated risks if managed improperly. Large-scale industrial and infrastructure projects in the Arctic, as well as tourism-based businesses, could benefit from such data but simultaneously pose an existential threat to reindeer husbandry. It has been shown that Sámi communities are skeptical of scientific research in general and do not necessarily trust institutions handling sensitive data. This skepticism can, in part, be attributed to the historical mistreatment of Indigenous people by majority-society institutions, including academia.

We believe that collaboration based on mutual dependence and mutual benefit, in line with the verdde tradition, could serve as a key building block for research collaboration as well as data management. Our proposal is a dual data-governance model:

The local reindeer herding district -the siida, retains ownership of raw data. Universities act as verdde partners, assisting with processing, analysis, and archiving, but under conditions agreed upon by the herders themselves. Any open-access publication would use preprocessed data that the community approves. The approach can be adapted to different contexts.

Author Biography

Per Anton Øverseth Olsen is an Assistant Professor at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, affiliated with the Institute of Automation and Process Technology under the Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology. He holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Cybernetics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where he specialized in robotics. 

Olsen’s research and professional interests span a wide range of topics, including Sámi technology, robotics, control theory, microcontroller programming, embedded systems, electronics, and multivariate analysis. He is the research group leader of Viššal – Sámi Engineering Science and Technology. 

In addition to his academic pursuits, Olsen is actively involved in Sámi organizations in Romssa (Tromsø) and Northern Sápmi. His work bridges the gap between traditional knowledge and modern engineering, fostering innovation that respects and incorporates Sámi culture and heritage.