Te reo Māori in digital products: making sure it’s authentic, meaningful and culturally affirming

Te reo Māori is one of Aotearoa’s official languages, a taonga [treasure]. Businesses increasingly want to use te reo Māori in their digital products, and in Maihi Karauna, the Crown’s Strategy for Māori Language Revitalisation, the government has committed to increasing how te reo Māori is used across government.

Join our panel discussion at Courtenay Creative on Thursday 27th May, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. NZST to explore how te reo Māori can be used in an authentic, meaningful, and culturally affirming way. 

Some questions we’ll consider are:

How can we make sure Māori, as kaitiaki of te reo Māori, are leading the discussion and decision-making?

How can digital creators support the use and revitalisation of te reo Māori in the products we make?

The web was set up to have 1 page, 1 language: how might we have te reo Māori and te reo Pākeha living side-by-side in digital products — and should we be aiming for that?

How can we ensure te reo Māori is used respectfully and acknowledged as a taonga, integral to (not separate from) te ao Māori?

What considerations do we need to give to equity, inclusion and accessibility for all language speakers? How can we make sure bilingual content is accessible for people visually, technically and meaningfully?

Featuring:

Trevor Himona (Ngāti Tūkorehe, Ngāti Raukawa, Waikato, Kahungunu ki Te Wairarapa, and Ngāi Tahu) 

Director, Te Pou Matihiko of the Digital Public Service Branch, Department of Internal Affairs (DIA).

With his advanced skills and expertise in te reo Māori me ōna tikanga and national networks, Trevor guides and advises on how to engage with Māori on the digital government strategy and strategic issues that impact Māori, whanau, hapu, iwi, Māori organisations and relevant government agencies.

Fiona Cassidy (Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa)

Director, Board of Directors — Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. Chair — Public Relations Institute of New Zealand. GM Comms and Engagement — Oranga Tamariki.

With over 25 years experience, Fiona is recognised as one of New Zealand’s senior communications professionals. She’s committed to the professional development of public relations and presents at international and national forums on communications, public relations and indigenous relations.

Gisela de la Villa

Technical Lead at Springload.

Gisela’s a people-focused tech champion — from coding to waiata practise to supporting the next generation of developers. She’s also a keen linguist — besides communicating in Python, NodeJS, Silverstripe and React, Gisela also speaks Spanish, German, English, and a little Italian and te reo Māori.

Miriame Barbarich (Ngāti Maru ki Hauraki, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Raukawa)

Co-Creator at ĀPŌPŌ Indigenous CreativeTech Programme and Hub. Co-Founder of Indigenous Design and Innovation Aotearoa.

Miriame is a creative strategist, communicator and digital native. She is passionate about building the capability and capacity of Māori and indigenous designers - ensuring they’re at the forefront of our designed futures.

Ask our panellists 

When you register you’ll have the chance to submit your questions — we’ll then pick a selection to ask the speakers on the day. There will also be a live Q&A session at the end of the talk.

Accessibility

Our venue has a wheelchair accessible entrance at 3a Forresters Lane. There is after hours parking a couple of minutes away at Bunnings : 58, Tory Street. Please see the map below.

For alternative parking there is a Carepark on 48 Tory Street. Or Carparking Reading, a short walk away on 230 Wakefield.

Please get in touch with kelly@springload.co.nz if you would like to access via the Forresters Lane entrance, or if you have any other access requirements or if there is anything else we can do to help accommodate you in our studio space.

After the live event, we will release a recorded version of the discussion with a transcript.