University of Manitoba researcher honoured for app helping Indigenous communities collect and own data
A researcher at the University of Manitoba is being honoured for her work in the creation of an app that allows Indigenous communities to survey their residents about health and social issues, and own the data they collect.
Dr. Moneca Sinclaire, a researcher in the department of environment and geography, was given the Mitacs Award for Outstanding Innovation – Indigenous for her work with the app.
“I think what it does is it opens the door for others to know about the project,” she said in an interview with CTV News Winnipeg on Friday.
“I’m very honoured it got selected, because to me it shows that people are listening and people are understanding that we as Indigenous people want to be able to collect our own data and have data sovereignty.”
Sinclaire explained that the app was initially designed with questions around COVID-19.
From there, chiefs and councils inquired about whether they could also use the app to collect other types of information.
“The whole notion of data sovereignty is that it’s research for Indigenous people and by Indigenous people, so we said, ‘Yes, why not?’” Sinclaire said.
She said the app has now evolved, with communities asking questions about various topics, including language.
“Communities are starting to take ownership of that app and creating their own questions that would be more useful for their communities,” she said.
Sinclaire noted that the communities decide for themselves what topics they want to survey residents about.
“We can train people in the communities to use the app, and then they can collect data in their community,” she said.
“Part of the training is that we’ll show them how to use the data and what it could be used for.”
Sinclaire, who is working as an outreach coordinator for the app, came on board with the project in its second-year of development. She said her job is to take the app to various communities and show what it could do.
She noted it is an ongoing project, which they have made more accessible for the communities.
“The plan is to have long-term relationships with the communities,” Sinclaire said.
She added that the app is important because it gives communities ownership of their own data, as well as the ability to decide what information to collect and how to use it to help the community.
“This app is important because it will allow communities to be able to do that,” Sinclaire.
-With files from CTV’s Danton Unger.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.