2026-07-11 –, The Seedbed
How can we center agricultural data sovereignty in the rapid development of open ag tech? Kicking off the morning of Camp Day 4, this panel brings together international perspectives to explore the critical need to build digital, social, and legal infrastructure that allows communities and land stewards to maintain control over their own information. Moderated by Steve Francis, the session opens with an introductory framing on data stewardship and navigating the tensions between open access and data enclosure. Panelists will then share concrete case studies highlighting community-led approaches to data ownership, ranging from Indigenous-led technology design in Aotearoa (New Zealand) to evaluating true cost accounting and participatory science. The final portion of the session will be dedicated to a collaborative discussion on building data commons that protect knowledge rather than exploit it.
This session represents a merged programming block that brings together three independent proposals focused on data sovereignty. Rather than individual presentations, it creates a cross-regional dialogue structured as follows:
- Introductory & Ethical Framing: An introduction examining data stewardship guidelines, data trusts, and mechanisms to keep producers in control of their information.
- Global Case Studies: Three lightning presentations mapping practical field applications of localized data sovereignty, self-sovereign indigenous stacks, true cost accounting barriers, and ethical research infrastructure.
- Moderated Open Conversation: An active, facilitated floor exploring the systemic tensions between open-source data commons and the protection of sensitive ecological, farm-level, and indigenous cultural knowledge.
Session Rundown
09:30–09:40 AM: Introductory Framing (Steve Francis) – Setting the baseline context by exploring the principles of data sovereignty and highlighting frameworks that prevent extractive data harvesting.
09:40–10:10 AM: Case Studies in Practice – Short, focused 10-minute field insights from the panel cohort:
Engie Matene (Mātou Collective): Detailing Indigenous-led approaches to self-sovereign identity and decentralized stacks in the South Pacific, illustrating how traditional values of collective ownership shape digital infrastructure.
Roseanna Crawford (True Cost Accounting Accelerator): Discussing methodologies for capturing and accounting for the true environmental, social, and economic impacts of food systems without exploiting producer datasets.
Tara Conway (The Land Institute): Exploring participatory science approaches within the Perennial Cultures Lab that advance ethical research infrastructures while fully respecting community data rights.
10:10–10:30 AM: Open Conversation + Q&A – A moderated, highly interactive exchange with the room to map out transferable rules of engagement for a global agricultural data commons.
Software engineer, turned entrepreneur, turned non-profit open source ag-tech developer. Got interested in the topic of data equity from a farmer's perspective.
Engie is an Indigenous Technologist and founding member of Mātou Collective, working at the intersection of Indigenous data sovereignty, digital identity, and emerging technologies. Her work is grounded in kaupapa Māori design and collective ownership, supporting Indigenous-led approaches to technology.
In collaboration with Tauhokohoko - https://www.tauhokohoko.nz/ - Matou has developed an Indigenous Digital Identity Protocol and is advancing community-led digital sovereignty and trade initiatives through the development of the Indigenous Digital Sovereignty Stack, enabling Māori and Indigenous communities to govern, and sustain their own digital infrastructure.
Rosanna Crawford is the Outreach & Engagement Coordinator at the True Cost Accounting Accelerator. She's worked in sustainability for 6 years, on projects ranging from urban climate governance, to rural resilience and community climate action, to the Just Transition. She is passionate about sustainable agrifood systems and equitable access to the outdoors. She's from the Scotland.
Tara Conway is a research scientist in the Perennial Cultures Lab at The Land Institute. She uses a political ecology lens and participatory research approaches to understand how perennial grains and humans can reciprocally shape one another to achieve a mutually sustaining world. She lives in Athens, GA and is a lover of bogs.