Winyama: culture, technology and social impact
Innovative Western Australian geospatial consultancy Winyama uniquely blends cultural knowledge with cutting-edge technology to deepen understanding of Country and strengthen Indigenous participation in Australia’s digital economy.
Co-founded in 2018 by Ngarluma Traditional Owner and digital cultural heritage specialist Andrew Dowding and geospatial technology leader Paul Farrell, Winyama is one of Australia’s few Indigenous-owned geospatial consultancies.
According to Andrew, Winyama is very much a for-purpose business with a clear vision to be sustainable while doing social good.
“The ultimate goal is to foster Indigenous tech talent and achieve full and equal participation of Indigenous people in the digital economy,” he says.
“The work we do and the space we operate in are means to achieve this vision. We want to see Indigenous communities having the tools and skills to map, manage and control their own cultural and spatial data.”
The Winyama approach is to blend cultural knowledge with advancing technology, including satellites, drones and custom apps to bring new insights to both mapping and understanding Country.
“Traditional mapping often missed the cultural layer entirely or relied on outdated methods that couldn’t capture the dynamic relationship between people and land. Our methods allow us to map at scale while maintaining cultural protocols,” Andrew explains.
He describes geospatial work as ‘absolutely critical’ to informed decision-making. “Whether its managing Native Title tenure or ongoing ranger field support and land management, you need accurate, culturally informed spatial data to make good decisions.”
“Winyama’s work provides the evidence base to support everything from ensuring Native Title obligations are met, to decisions about sustainable land use. The business is also seeing more non-Indigenous landowners, developers and governmental agencies seeking to understand Native Title impacts. There is a growing recognition that proper cultural mapping from the outset saves time and money later,” Andrew says.
“Not just time and money, but that’s typically where conversations with non-Indigenous entities begin. Ultimately, it’s about building long-term relationships, having conversations with Indigenous communities in good faith and if information isn’t available, supporting these communities to develop and retain ownership of that knowledge, so they have equal standing in engagement opportunities,” he says.
Winyama supports all parties in engagement processes by building the knowledge base and making it accessible in culturally appropriate ways
Cultural mapping is one of their core services and the business has supported First Nations organisations in WA’s South West, including the Karri Karrak and Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporations with these projects.
Beyond cultural mapping, Winyama provides a variety of other geospatial services and is currently engaged in an ongoing geospatial secondment arrangement to the Indigenous Land and Sea Council and recently contributed to the WA Vegetation Extent (WAVE) initiative, which is experimenting with the use of AI machine learning (ML) to analyse satellite imagery and quantify native vegetation across three pilot areas.
On the subject of AI, Andrew says that while he remains quite cautious around its use in relation to Indigenous cultural data, he sees “massive opportunity” from an environmental sustainability perspective. In addition to the WAVE project, he cites a CSIRO pilot project in 2022 where ML was used to analyse thousands of images of an invasive starfish species. It was then successfully used to detect them in the water at much greater rates than humans ever could. “These are the spaces where I’m really excited to see AI applied – where it can bolster human efforts rather than undercut our opportunities,” Andrew says.
And true to Winyama’s vision; building Indigenous capability and providing opportunities for participation in the digital economy, is central to its impact. The business has already provided training and support to more than 1,000 people working across the Indigenous land estate in Australia, as well as eight paid internship opportunities for Aboriginal Australians. This represents a growing network of Indigenous tech capability that Winyama is helping to nurture; something the business is extremely proud of.
The technology sector, including geospatial, is certainly one of growing opportunity with job security, competitive salaries and flexible work. “Geospatial work is great work for Mob,” Andrew says. “Particularly in the space we operate – land and environment. It gives our people the chance to support our communities and preserve our cultures.
When young Indigenous people learn to map their Country, using cutting-edge technology, they gain a specialised skill set and career pathway that aligns with their values. It’s economic development that strengthens, rather than erodes, cultural identity,” Andrew explains.
The fact Winyama is Supply Nation accredited as an Indigenous-owned business has opened doors with major corporates serious about Indigenous procurement. “We have secured several significant contracts directly through Supply Nation connections,” Andrew says.
In a relatively short time and with a small, but effective team, Winyama is making a real difference. It is helping to build knowledge of the land, strengthen Indigenous data sovereignty and improve decision-making in relation to Country. Notably, it is also equipping an increasing number of Indigenous Australians to take advantage of opportunities afforded by the digital economy.
