Professors James A. Crippen (Department of Linguistics) and Professor Debra A. Titone (Department of Psychology) are among nine co-investigators from six Canadian universities who will find common ground for the co-development of Research Data Management (RDM) policy and infrastructure in Canada’s academic research environment.
Dr. Aaron Franks, Senior Research Manager, OCAP and Information Government at the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC) will serve as the projects director.
“McGill is committed to working with a diverse group of partners to ensure that Research Data Management (RDM) practices in academic institutions respect Indigenous rights to data sovereignty,” says Professor Titone. Titone is the Vice-Principal of Research at McGill and a Canada Research Chair in Language and Multilingualism.
“Through respectful dialogue, honest discussion, and a process that invites participant feedback, we expect this project will launch wider and deeper dialogue on data sovereignty in academic RDM in the years to come,” she says. “We are grateful to FNIGC for including us as collaborators in their important work.”
Participants include representatives of six academic institutions, including McGill University, as well as representatives of Inuit or First Nations governments and organizations in whose territories the academic institutions operate. It is hoped that this work will expand the number of participating First Nations organizations, governments and academic institutions and further encourage alignment of the management of First Nations research data with respect to First Nations data sovereignty.