132 Data Sharing and Usage | First Nations Principles of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP)

From Dr. Oguamanam (CGI Papers No. 234 – December 2019):

“Indigenous data sovereignty includes the capabiity of Indigenous peoples to analyze and interpret research resutls and neegotiate the application as a consequequential and transformative exercise in self-determined development.”

Data sovereignty in its simpletst form refers to ta stat’s interest in excerising sovereign authorithy and control through laws and regulations relating to the data it collects or the data collected within or relating to its jurisdiction.

Data sovereignty is viewed as a tool for resurgence.

Indigenous peoples are opposed to colonial-based structures for research and data generation an din their research desire for self-determination, self-governance and to retain ownership of study data.

Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP) governance is a principle for the conduct and modelling of research  and Indigenous data sovereignty for self-determination. This is a key aspect of Indigenous peoples’ relationship with data.

Ownership refers to the relationship of First Nations to their cultural knowledge, data, and information. This principle states that a community or group owns information collectively in the same way that an individual owns his or her personal information.

(Source – Dr. Oguamanam CGI Papers No. 234 – December 2019)