**4. Taking indigenous knowledge seriously**

However, despite increased global recognition of indigenous communities' knowledge to maintain global cultural diversity and biological diversity, arguably indigenous knowledge is gradually disappearing. This is a result of worldwide rapid development and landscape changes and also as a result of increased encounters between the paradigms of indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge.

There is little doubt that UNESCO [10] has highlighted a recent shift in the relationship between science and other systems of knowledge, reflected in the explicit recognition of indigenous knowledge in many global environmental governances described above. Nonetheless, there are still conflicting ideas about what it means to take indigenous knowledge seriously. There is still widespread assumption that science is superior to other knowledge systems. This stems mainly from the incommensurable between scientific and indigenous conceptual models, their ontologies, and their systems [11–14], which continue to create barriers to meaningful collaboration and the integration of indigenous and scientific knowledge.

As aptly described by Simeone ([15], pg. 1–2). He says, "Unlike the western custom of disseminating knowledge through publication, traditional knowledge systems exist principally in the form of songs, proverbs, stories, folklore, community laws, common or collective property and inventions, practices, and rituals. The knowledge is transmitted through specific cultural mechanisms such as those just listed, and often through designated community knowledge holders, such as elders. The knowledge is considered collective to the community, not private to one individual or small group." He went to say that, "While Western science tends to be written and compartmentalize, IK are more holistic and are communicated orally. As orally based knowledge, IK are transmitted through observations and experiences while scientific knowledge are passed on through lectures and theories. Often times than not scientific knowledge are value-free and theoretical, whilst indigenous knowledge is more spiritual and embedded in social values."

The differences can be demonstrated by the following two diagrams, which illustrate the framing of the two types of knowledge. Diagram 1(a) is an illustration of indigenous knowledge, which was co-created with remote community leaders. Diagram 1(b) on the other hand represents the prescriptive modeling of knowledge by researchers structuring and creation of scientific knowledge (**Figure 1**).

Due to the differences, some observers express concern that western science creates conflicts for indigenous knowledge and may even destroy it. This has led to calls for a shift in understanding indigenous knowledge to dismantle the barriers between indigenous traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge [16]. It is this call which inspires this chapter for it encapsulates the experiences we have gained

**Figure 1.**

*(a), (b): The framing of indigenous and scientific knowledge.*

over two decades of research in rural digital inclusion efforts by introducing information communication technologies (ICTs), especially the internet as new tools for social and economic transformations amongst indigenous communities in Malaysia. This is within a challenging context: terrain with extreme variations in elevation, long distances, and sparce populations located in widespread locations. Moreover, with communities with diverse ethnic backgrounds and with different levels of socioeconomic status, and at times zero digital literacy.

The diverse and dispersed communities require a careful context-specific for the deployment of the information communication technologies and their designs. Not only the team encounter differences in terms of experiences and standard of living but lifestyle, cultural practices, and worldviews, which are constitutive of their indigenous knowledge.
