Council · About
About OIATC
The Ontario Indigenous AI and Technology Council exists because of a simple, repeated failure: the digital systems that run First Nations services are chosen by vendors and administrators, not by the communities they serve. We author governance for Indigenous-led digital decisions and we steward platforms that put that governance into use.
Where we are
OIATC is early and small on purpose. The council has three members: Russell Jones (Ojibwe from Sagamok Anishnawbek, founder, full-stack developer), Web Networks (a non-profit worker co-op, one of Canada's first ISPs, our hosting foundation), and Oliver Zielke (former Director at Web Networks, with a background in non-profit and open-source technology). Steven Bennett, a fluent speaker who shares his teachings of Anishinaabemowin, is our Elder and Knowledge Keeper. We are incorporating as a not-for-profit corporation; until that completes, partnership funds will be held under a trusteeship arrangement we name here. We publish what we ship, we date what we publish, and we correct what we get wrong.
What we run
Three programs: Anishinaabemowin (language revitalization with consent infrastructure), Anokii (community platforms designed to be Nation-governed), and Community Knowledge (plain-language explainers for members).
OIATC supports the independent, member-led Robinson Huron Treaty Members' Transparency Circle. We neither run it nor govern it.
Who we're looking for
A Nation ready to be a first partner. A legal or policy advisor in Indigenous data governance. One more arm's-length director as we incorporate. And funders who want shipped work over slideware: everything on this site exists and is dated.
The council
Russell Jones
In 2023 Russell was contracted to implement a case-management system at a First Nations Child and Family Advocacy Unit, saw within weeks that it would not fit the community, and made the case for a Canadian-built alternative already in use at neighbouring Nations. The recommendation was shelved and the contract ended. OIATC is how that lesson becomes a practice.
Web Networks
A non-profit worker co-op whose clients have included the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut and Nunavut Public Library Services. Web Networks provides OIATC's hosting foundation and sits on the council.
Oliver Zielke
Former Director at Web Networks, with a background in non-profit and open-source technology. Joins the board as OIATC incorporates.
Steven Bennett
A fluent speaker who shares his teachings of Anishinaabemowin publicly. His recordings are the foundation of the language program, used with his agreement, and he guides the council on language and cultural knowledge.
Council positions
Beyond the programs, OIATC publishes occasional council-level statements on national questions that bear on Indigenous digital sovereignty.
- Council position Foreign disinformation is a sovereignty issue
- Council position When the system is chosen for you: the PrescribeIT lesson
- Council position When a foreign order can switch off your AI, what do you actually own?
Contact
For partnerships, funding, or council questions, write to Russell: [email protected]. Writing to Russell is writing to OIATC.