Daniel McKinnon

My work focuses on Indigenous sovereignty, digital infrastructure, and education reform, with a particular emphasis on how Māori assert self-determination in systems traditionally shaped by settler-colonial and neoliberal logics. I collaborate closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to reimagine education, data, and governance on Indigenous terms.

I currently lead or co-lead projects that explore:

• How Indigenous communities conceive of and enact success in schools

• The development of digital infrastructures that uphold Indigenous Knowledge and data sovereignty

• Participatory and community-led approaches to prototyping ethical systems design

My research draws on mixed-methods, critical policy analysis, Indigenous research methodologies, and affect theory. I’m especially interested in how Indigenous governance, kinship systems, and epistemologies can reshape public institutions and challenge inherited colonial frameworks. I welcome HDR students committed to Indigenous-led research, critical infrastructure studies, education justice, and digital design for sovereignty.