IEEE Provenance

A new standard outlines how scientists and technology professionals across an array of fields should record the provenance – or origin and history of use – for data about and relating to Indigenous Peoples.

IEEE Recommended Practice for Provenance of Indigenous Peoples' Data

Open Access Standard forthcoming

Press Release forthcoming

Indian Country Today article forthcoming

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – known as IEEE and dubbed the “world’s largest technical professional organization”– voted and approved the first-ever international standard regarding the “appropriate disclosure of Indigenous peoples’ relationships and/or links to all data,” which was published in November 2025. 

The standard details the process for describing and recording the provenance of data about or related to Indigenous Peoples and their cultures, lands and knowledge systems. This includes historical collections of Indigenous data and any future data and datasets coming from Indigenous Peoples and/or deriving from Indigenous lands and waters.

IEEE maintains an archive of over 1000 active technology standards, with several hundred others in development at any given time. These standards are used by researchers and industry professionals in more than 160 countries to develop emerging tech products and processes, impacting everything from the smartphone in your pocket to generative artificial intelligence to the infrastructure that powers your community.

Consultation on IEEE P2890 Recommended Practice on Provenance of Indigenous Peoples’ Data:

GIDA supports efforts to recognise and support Indigenous rights and interests in data. The IEEE Recommended Practice for the Provenance of Indigenous Peoples’ Data is the first example of a standard developed for Indigenous Peoples’ data. We expect this to be the first of many standards created to support the implementation of principles for Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance. We acknowledge the active participation of Indigenous members in the process to develop the Recommended Practice and the desire to consult widely with Indigenous communities.

Two consultation webinars were held on April 25 2023 and June 28 2023. 

Below is a link to a recording of the first consultation webinar You will also be able to view the slides here.

Privacy Statement:

GIDA collected the following information: name, email, country, Indigenous affiliation, organization and/or community; which was used for the following purposes: We used these data to verify that a real person was giving feedback, that that person was Indigenous or an authorized representative of an Indigenous community. We also used the data to assess geographic representation, enabling us to reach out to unrepresented geographies. We also used email addresses to seek further clarification on feedback that the individual provided. We will not be sharing your individual information with any third parties. Only collated data on Nation-State was included as part of IEEE reporting process.