Indigital is “where cultural knowledge connects with digital skills” and was founded by Cabrogal Woman, Mikaela Jade from the Dharug-speaking Nations of Sydney in 2014. It is Australia’s first Indigenous Edu-tech company and specialises in technology development and digital skills training with a focus on areas including augmented and mixed realities, artificial intelligence, machine learning and the internet of things.
Their goal is to close the digital divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, by providing a meaningful pathway for Indigenous people into the digital economy and the creation of future technologies. This will enable the use of digital technologies “to express 80,000 years of human knowledge for generations to come”.
Their projects include the Indigital Minecraft Education Challenge an annual competition open to Primary and Secondary schools across Australia based on the “National NAIDOC theme – Heal Country and inspired by the Indigital Schools program”, the project is supported by partners including Microsoft (the makers of Minecraft), the Telstra Foundation, National Library of Australia and the National NAIDOC Committee. The 2021 challenge saw the participation of 200 teachers, and 6500 students across 160 schools.
In 2018, Mikaela Jade won the prestigious Veuve Clicquot New Generation Award for 2018 for female entrepreneurs under the age of 40 (which identifies leaders in entrepreneurship, innovation and corporate social responsibility) and she was also named in The Australian’s 100 Top Innovators List