Farmers, community (hapori) groups and councils who create and also use land-based data have the opportunity to help a project aiming to build on the amount of digital data and mapping information available to them.
A collaborative team including AgResearch, Massey University and Waka Digital have obtained funding through the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge to build a “digital gateway” that enables simpler, more open access to the many data sources available nationally.
Called the Kuaha Matihiko Digital Gateway project, the $700,000-funded project is an effort to take land and water data that is often difficult to find, expensive and inaccessible, and consolidate sources into a single “shopfront” for access.
As part of the project’s foundation phase a data stocktake is to be done to identify what data resources are used by different groups to ensure the information will be readily accessible to all users of the gateway.
To better inform the project data users are being invited to take part in a survey on their usage of the many databases and digital resources available in New Zealand.
Developers intend to use this information to ensure the gateway prioritises what datasets are critical for inclusion in the project.
They also intend to use social media and case studies to connect Kuaha Matihiko to potential users.
The survey can be completed by interested users online at www.finddata.co.nz
