As part of Perth's West Tech Fest, the First Nations House Summit brought together Indigenous leaders, entrepreneurs, and creatives from around the world to exchange strategies and insights.
The event served as a vital platform to elevate First Nations and Indigenous businesses globally.
Osoyoos Indian Band woman, President of the Native American Business Association and a member of the United States delegation, Amanda Smith, spoke about the importance of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for Native and tribal businesses.
"Technology and AI is really important to our native businesses in our tribal communities," she said.
Ms Smith explained how the pandemic highlighted the lack of technological access in many tribal areas, revealing significant gaps in infrastructure and connectivity.
"During the pandemic, when everything was closed down, we found out how big of a need there was and how far behind in technology our tribal communities were," she said.
For many tribal communities, limited access to the internet created barriers to essential services and opportunities.
"A lot of them didn't even have access or connectivity to the internet, and so that really brought the awareness for the need and how important it is," Ms Smith said.
She highlighted how improving technology access can create transformative opportunities.
"Once you have that connection and technology, it can really open up a ton of doors and opportunities—everything from education to business through e-commerce to telehealth and medicine for our tribal communities," she said.
Ms Smith also expressed her appreciation for the insights and opportunities shared at the First Nations House Summit, noting the value of learning from Australia's Indigenous communities.
"Some of the insights and ideas that I've learned about that I hope to bring back is just, you know, over here in Australia the First Nations and the Indigenous they have so much opportunities," she said.
She plans to share these lessons with Native and tribal businesses in the United States to encourage growth and collaboration.
"Just taking some of that back and having that encouragement and that support for our Indigenous and native businesses," she said.
Another key takeaway for Ms Smith was discovering the investment potential for Native and tribal enterprises.
"Learning about some of that—that there are investors and people that are wanting to invest in our native and tribal businesses," she said.
The First Nations House Summit provided a space for knowledge exchange, inspiration, and collaboration between Indigenous communities across the globe.
Ms Smith's participation highlighted the shared challenges and opportunities faced by Native and First Nations businesses, as well as the potential for technology and investment to drive meaningful change.
