June 05, 2018
Tech helping stem language loss
An international Maori businesswoman says technology solutions developed for problems in Aotearoa are proving to have international application.
Rhonda Kite was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in yesterday’s Queens Birthday Honours list for to services to media technology, television and film.
Tools her firm Kiwa Digital initially developed for cost-effective dubbing of children’s cartoons into te reo Maori have grown into a suite of tools for audio and video post-production and digital publishing.
She says the Maori language story is not unique.
"It’s the mother tongues that are in danger and these are the ones capturing our attention and that is where we are seeing the opportunities. Even within the (United Arab) Emirates where I live, in Dubai, there are seven different Emirates and there are also different dialects within that and a lot of dialects are dying off now and there are some elders who are concerned about that – same story, same story," Ms Kite says.
A current project in the United Arab Emirates involves running workshops for children to write stories which are turned into interactive digital books.
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