News
29/05/24
Inaugural showing of Meditation on Country, at the International Symposium on Electronic Art at The Edge, Meanjin / Brisbane.
12/02/23
We are excited to announce Old Ways, New Publication, introducing ways to embed cultural protocols into programming logic
08/11/21
Protocols in Indigenous cultures are not simply commandments or statements of norms such as, “Look after Country and Country will look after you”. Protocols are quite specific and deal with relational behaviours that must be adhered to in specific contexts (e.g. Where does a young person direct their voice and gaze when in the presence of an opposite gender Elder of high status?). In our yarns to begin outlining and testing various protocols, we commenced quite broadly with general Indigenous ethics, building on previous work in this area (Lewis et al, 2020) which was a good ethical starting point but did not elucidate the specificity that software engineers require to inform programming standards, protocols or, rules as code.
We began this work with an awareness of Indigenous data sovereignty issues an emergent field involving Indigenous control over the protection and use of data that is collected from our communities, including statistics, cultural knowledge and even user data. We nicknamed our desired protocols around this as ‘Blackfella box’, referencing the idea of ‘black boxes’ in digital systems; this was our shorthand for identifying areas of knowledge that we could not share with the world. We also flagged this as a potential test case for automating a restricted knowledge protocol, possibly using a blockchain/smart contract application that we referred to as “Proof of Aunty”, asserting that proof of cultural authority is more of a priority for us than proof of stake or proof of work...
Story and findings of the IP//AI Incubator
Professor Angie Abdilla is a palawa~trawlwoolway designer/technologist, CEO of Old Ways, New and is a member of the Global Future Council on Artificial Intelligence for Humanity for the World Economic Forum.
Megan Kelleher belongs to the Baradha and Gabalbara peoples is a PhD Candidate investigating blockchain and Indigenous governance.
Rick Shaw is a Gamillaroi mathematician.
Dr Tyson Yunkaporta is a boy who belongs to the Apalech clan from Far North Qld, author, Indigenous researcher and the founder of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab, NIKERI, Deakin University.
Media
As part of our commitment to sharing and interconnecting knowledges that are generated through R&D, Old Ways, New staff have provided keynote or panel presentations at forums as diverse as Harvard, United Nations, Australia’s International Cyber and Critical Technology Engagement Strategy, Kultursymposium Weimar in Germany, REMIX, Right of Reply - Indigenous Rights in Data & Collections Symposium, Communicating the Arts and the Indigenous Science Symposium series. You can see updates from some these events below, please get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss Old Ways, New taking part in an event.
Angie Abdilla now a member of World Economic Forum Global Future Council
Angie Abdilla now a member of World Economic Forum Global Future Council
Slow Protocols Indigenous Tech Podcast
Old Ways, New Angie Abilla joins Tyson Yunkaporta as part of Deakin University Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab in a yarn from the core group currently working on Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence (IP//AI).
Prof. Angie Abdilla invited as Keynote Speaker for ‘Power & Peril of the Digital Age’
Professor Angie Abdilla invited as a Keynote Speaker for The Royal Society of NSW alongside a very learned group of people about the future of technology, and her collaborative work with the Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence Incubator, and, the resulting publication for UNESCO on the Blind Spots of AI, titled "Out of the Black Box: Indigenous Protocols for AI".
When Machines Dream the Future: Festival on Living with Artificial Intelligence
Old Ways, New CEO Angie Abdilla joined fellow authors Tyson Yunkaporta, Rick Shaw and Megan Kelleher in the panel discussion on their recently published paper ‘The Blindspots of A’I, as part of the Goethe Institute AI 3-day festival in Dresden.
Out of the Black Box: Indigenous Protocols for AI | Abstract
In this paper we share our journey starting with an international group of Indigenous technologists at the inaugural workshop series in Hawaii in 2019, leading to the IP//AI Incubator in March, 2021.
Key learnings from the foundations of these works were the need for Indigenous AI to be regional in nature, conception, design and development, to be tethered to localised Indigenous laws inherent to Country, to be guided by local protocols to create the diverse standards and programming logic required for the developmental processes of AI, and to be designed with our future cultural interrelationships and interactions with AIs in mind.
"Machines as Kin or the New Colonisers?'“ on Science Friction (ABC)
What if an A.I (Artificial Intelligence) was raised alongside us from birth to learn with us? What do we mean by intelligence? How should we relate to the non-human? Biases in A.I - are they as much about dodgy data and myopic programming, or the long arm of white supremacy in technology?
Angie Abdilla to give 2020 Whyte Lecture at Monash University
Founder of Old Ways, New, Angie Abdilla, gave the annual Whyte Lecture for Monash University, in conversation with Pia Andrews on Tuesday 8 September 2020. Via Zoom webinar, they spoke about how we are creating systemic change, Indigenous agency and autonomy through Country Centred Design.
Indigenous Protocol Artificial Position Paper Released
Old Ways, New co-founded and funded the Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence (IP AI) working group in 2018. Forty Indigenous technologists met in Hawaii as the first part of this work to explore how Indigenous protocols can inform Artificial Intelligence.
Angie Abdilla speaking at Planning Industry National Congress
Old Ways, New CEO Angie Abdilla is giving a keynote address at the Planning Industry Australia’s national congress on the May 13th. Angie will be speaking about how Country Centred Design can be successfully applied to built and natural environment projects.
Angie Abdilla to Join Peter Singer on Stage at The Festival of Dangerous Ideas
Old Ways, New CEO Angie Abdilla, will be joining Peter Singer, Jane McAdam, David Wallace-Wells on stage at the Sydney Town Hall as part of the Festival Of Dangerous Ideas.
Indigenous Matriarchs Summit
Angie Abdilla, Old Ways, New CEO, will be a guest speaker at the Indigenous Matriarchs 4 Lab (IM4 Lab) summit: Indigenous Immersion: Recoding the Virtual on the 28-29th of March 2020.
Angie Abdilla giving the closing keynote at TEI’20
Old Ways, New CEO Angie Abdilla gave the closing keynote address at the Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI) 2020 Conference in Sydney, Australia. Angie spoke about Country Centred Design and how a deep connection to Country or place is fundamental to any complex problem solving, especially when creating new embedded or embodied technologies.
ANU's Reimagine CoDesign Culture Lab
The Nov 2019 CoDesign Culture Lab — led by the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) — featured workshops, presentations, facilitated CoDesign sessions, and public programs.
Cultural Leadership at the Communicating the Arts Conference
Abdilla spoke about about Cultural Leadership from an Indigenous perspective at the Communicating the Arts conference at The Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney on November 13th, 2019.
Podcast Appearance: Social Lights
Social Lights podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate Vandervoort has a conversation with Angie Abdilla, founder and CEO of Old Ways, New. We talk about the work of bringing indigenous wisdom into artificial intelligence.
Right of Reply Symposium
On October 18th, Old Ways, New staff presented on Indigenous AI at the right of reply - Indigenous rights in data & collections symposium.
D61+ Live: Indigenous Techno-Ethics
How can we use ethically designed technology to mould a positive and inclusive future of our choosing? According Founder of Old Ways, New, Angie Abdilla, it’s crucial to consider the first peoples of Australia and the 6,000 years of history, experience and innovation that evolved during that period.
Angie Abdilla featured in Smith Journal
Our CEO, Angie Abdilla, featured in Smith Journal in this article written by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta