Measuring Te Reo Revitalisation Impact for Iwi Māori

Our client is an independent authority that leads Māori language revitalisation on behalf of iwi Māori, working to restore te reo Māori as a first language within Māori homes and communities. Working closely with iwi, the organisation directs funding into programmes and initiatives designed to invigorate te reo Māori and ensure its sustainability for future generations.

The organisation needed to assess the effectiveness of its funding decisions and demonstrate transparency in how funding was appropriated. Requests for aggregated data reports across multiple recipients, by time period, iwi, rūpū, and other dimensions, were frequent and time-consuming to fulfil.

Without a centralised data platform, the client could not capture evidence of programme assessments in any structured way, or respond quickly to applicant, iwi, or ministerial queries.

DataSing was engaged to build a data platform capable of capturing the impacts of the client's funding decisions on language revitalisation. We worked as an extension of the organisation's data team, aligning data strategies with organisational objectives.

We delivered a foundational data platform incorporating storage, data warehousing, ingestion, and machine learning capabilities. We identified and integrated critical data sources to evaluate the effectiveness of funded initiatives, and developed a 'Language Revitalisation' data layer to refine, transform, and unify diverse datasets into a consolidated analytical view.

We put in place strategies for data ingestion and management, developed four initial self-service dashboards for staff, and provided continuous support and maintenance of the ingestion pipelines. We also delivered training for the analytical team to get the most out of the platform, and assisted with security certification, accreditation, and Privacy Impact Assessments.

Regular governance and operational meetings ensured we stayed aligned and could adapt to emerging requirements, with a roadmap guiding the incremental build-out of the platform.

DataSing deployed an initial data platform within six weeks from the start of the engagement, meeting the required information security and privacy standards.

The data roadmap developed under our guidance has become part of the organisation's strategic planning, directly influencing operational goals and contributing to data-driven decision-making.

We have maintained zero platform outages since deployment, strengthening the client's confidence in our ability to support their mission of Māori language revitalisation.

Staff can now respond to ministerial and iwi queries quickly using self-service dashboards, and the platform provides a solid evidence base for future funding decisions.