Kiwa shares language tools for indigenous revival

The International Year of Indigenous Languages has been officially launched in Paris and New Zealand tech innovator Kiwa Digital is keen to help.

Steve Renata says as well as working on products that help revitalise te reo Māori, it has also worked with Australian Aboriginal and Alaskan First Nations people, as well as in the Middle East.

To support the aspirations of the year, Kiwa is introducing a new technology programme, the Indigenous Media Toolkit, to boost indigenous media development globally.

It will involve setting up technology hubs, such as the one created at the Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Languages Centre in Western Australia.

"The big focus at Kiwa is a shift of sorts from being very production focused where we create the immersive digital apps for indigenous groups and actually allowing them to use the software we have. We license them, we train them and allow them to be self sufficient and create their own employment and their own content," Mr Renata says.

He says people think digital technology is for the younger generation, to preserve the language the oldest members of a community also need to become involved.

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