Culture Meets Tech At IBC2024

Indigenous-owned media tech company Kiwa Digital is in the spotlight at the huge IBC2024 media and entertainment convention in Amsterdam, featuring in the IBC Innovation Awards presented on Sunday 15 September.

IBC2024 saw 43,000 broadcasters, content owners, rights holders and service providers come together to redefine the future of the global media and entertainment industry.

Kiwa Digital’s novel SaaS solution CultureQ™ was a finalist in the Social Impact category of the awards, which recognise an innovation that makes a positive impact in the industry and/or the wider world.

CultureQ™ is a new software as a service application designed for Indigenous Peoples, with cloud-based services that include secure storage of cultural assets, publishing automation, AI models and chat functionality.The innovation takes the long view on language revitalisation, empowering Indigenous Peoples to revitalise their language and culture at scale while retaining narrative and data sovereignty.

The Social Impact Award was made to Sesame Workshop, for its “Watch Play Learn” Distribution Hub for children in crisis settings. The third finalist was Disney Star/ Star Sports for an accessibility initiative in India.

“We’re honoured to be one of the finalists for the Social Impact Award at IBC2024.” says Steven Renata Managing Director of Kiwa Digital.

“We see this as recognition of the growing influence of Indigenous Peoples globally. Marginalised for too long, Indigenous Peoples are now reclaiming the narrative, strengthening their own language and culture, as well as providing sustainable solutions to global challenges. What’s good for Indigenous Peoples is good for the world. We look forward to helping spread this message through the CultureQ™ platform.”

CultureQ has been developed in collaboration with Technical Partners Dilji Labs in Western Australia and Toro Studios in New Zealand. It is hosted on AWS, with technical guidance from the AWS New Zealand team. Technology partners were also honoured at the event.

About IBC

IBC2024 offers a comprehensive line-up of innovative show features, designed to reflect the current landscape of media and entertainment and shape the future of technology through collaboration and education. More at www.show.ibc.org

About CultureQ™

CultureQ™ is a novel software as a service application that enables Indigenous Peoples to revitalise their language and culture sustainably. It was developed by KIWA Digital Ltd, a Māori owned technology business working in the intersection between language and technology for more than 20 years. More at www.kiwadigital.com

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“We hope our initiative inspires other remote communities, especially our young people, to aim high and embrace innovation and technology. Technology here has been used as a tool to preserve our cultural knowledge and Ngalia language, as well as to foster greater understanding about caring for the environment in a cultural way.”

Kado Muir, Dilji Corporation, Australia

“We operate from a location that is the most Māori on the planet. CultureQ is playing a major role in building the narrative that Māori want to tell about themselves and tribal organisations and tribal entities and particularly on protecting data sovereignty.”

Barry Soutar, Toro Studios, New Zealand

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