Approximately 250 participants gathered to explore Indigenous innovation and knowledge at the University of Hawaiʻi Innovation Conference held November 8 at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center.
The conference, “A Catalyst for Change: Indigenous Innovation at UH,” brought together experts and community members to identify solutions in key areas including Indigenous data visualization tools, traditional healing practices, knowledge systems integration and community partnership development.
“Indigenous action means continuity and it speaks to a time when human society had deep ties to their landscape and family units,” said Kamuela Enos, UH Office of Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation (OIKI) director and one of the conference’s keynote speakers. “The technologies, their education and all the different systems that they designed were optimized for how people live in place indefinitely.”
UH is a trailblazer in weaving ancestral and contemporary technologies through its groundbreaking Indigenous Data Hub at UH West Oʻahu. Students have the opportunity to enact change in their communities through place-based data visualization projects. Kari Noe, head of the UH Indigenous data hub, was one of the conference panelists. UH is also leading the conversation among Indigenous organizations, aiming to grow innovation partnerships and initiatives.
“Because there’s some really big challenges and opportunities in our state, whether that is energy, health equity, agriculture, these are areas where Indigenous knowledge actually drives success in the future,” said UH Vice President for Research and Innovation Vassilis Syrmos. “That’s why we think Indigeneity and how we do things within our communities will educate our future practices.”
Kūhaʻo Zane, board president of the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation and creative director of Sig Zane Designs, opened the conference alongside Enos, setting the context for Indigenous-centered innovation. Presentations included insights from health practitioners integrating traditional healing methods and demonstrations of new Indigenous data tools.
Nikora Ngaropo, CEO of Nikora Ngaropo Motion Design/Young Animators New Zealand, delivered the lunch keynote on Indigenous innovation trajectory. The event concluded with panels featuring local organizations including Purple Maiʻa Foundation, MAʻO Organic Farms and other UH research initiatives.
The conference highlighted UH’s ongoing commitment to supporting community-driven research and initiatives that preserve and advance Indigenous practices while positioning community practitioners as innovators in their fields.
