Kuaha Matihiko: Digital Gateway

How can the research be used? Ka pēhea e whai take ai te rangahau?

• Kuaha Matihiko will bring together disparate datasets, enabling people to both contribute and access data. It will be a web-based platform, with an API (Application Programming Interface) and mapping services, that enables users to download or import relevant land or water data. It will be open-source and designed to be attractive to various groups.
• The project will work across scales, but several case studies will take a ‘bottom up’ approach through engagement with Māori landowners and community groups as potential end users. This will identify needs and opportunities that will be worked through by the research team. For example, the digital platform could potentially be used to record land parcel scale data, which could be used for integrated farm planning, and communicating with existing tools (such as FarmIQ, Mitigator, Overseer), and could also assist Māori with realising the economic potential of their land.
• Within the 18 months of this research project, a functional ‘minimum viable product’ (MVP) online platform will be developed, and a clear business case will be developed for its continuation and extension. The business case will detail the partnerships and funding streams required for full development of the platform.
• Case studies will provide concrete examples of how to access and utilise data and adapt the platform to address practical needs of groups such as hapū and iwi, regional authorities and central government.
• Social media platforms will be used to connect Kuaha Matihiko to its customers, supported by students from Pūhoro STEMM Academy who will provide a sounding board for social media use to grow a user base for the platform.