An interactive cost estimate for connecting individual trees to their cultural heritage, provenance, and intergenerational stories — delivered through NFC tags and digital wallet passes.
When dealing with whakapapa and indigenous knowledge, the technical architecture must reflect who owns the data. The CMS is designed to allow content to be exported, archived, or removed at the request of knowledge holders.
A wallet pass has limited screen space. It displays the most critical information — name, species, a striking image, and a brief summary — and acts as a digital key to unlock deeper web-based content, full audio interviews, and historical archives.
The story is never finished. Future generations can submit their own memories or photographs of the tree, allowing the archive to grow across time. The NFC tag is the entry point; the living archive is the destination.
The technical plumbing is straightforward. The real value — and time investment — is the content. Begin researching and writing the stories for the first 10 trees to establish tone, workflow, and cultural protocols before scaling.
Since you are building a custom backend, ensure the CMS is designed for scale from day one. If this pilot expands to 5,000 trees, the system needs to handle bulk imports, media management, and version control for stories seamlessly.
The main advantage of a custom backend is dynamic updates. Budget for ongoing content creation so passes update automatically when a tree flowers, when leaves turn in autumn, or when a new historical fact is uncovered.
Tags can be encoded and installed before the backend is complete. Use a simple redirect URL initially (pointing to a placeholder page) and update the destination once the full wallet pass system is live.
Four parties are involved across the life of this project. The matrix below defines accountability at every stage — from initial build through to ongoing cultural stewardship.
Digital Kaitiaki (NGT) — an optional internal role that NGT may appoint (new hire or upskilled existing staff) to own content updates, CMS management, and cultural liaison on an ongoing basis. Where this role exists, it reduces long-term dependency on Mauri Compass. Columns marked ★ show how responsibility shifts when this role is filled.
| Activity | Mauri Compass Digital Partner & IT | NGT Internal Leadership & Operations | Digital Kaitiaki ★ NGT (optional role) | Cultural Advisors NGT Kaitiaki / Hapū |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build Phase | ||||
| NFC tag procurement & field installation | R | A | I | I |
| Custom backend & API development | RA | I | I | — |
| Apple & Google Wallet pass templates | RA | C | C | — |
| CMS setup & admin dashboard | R | A | C | — |
| Cloud hosting provisioning | RA | I | I | — |
| Content & Cultural Production | ||||
| Cultural engagement & koha protocol | I | A | C | R |
| Tree research & oral history interviews | I | C | R★ | R |
| Bilingual copywriting (Te Reo & English) | C | A | R★ | R |
| Photography & visual asset production | C | A | R★ | C |
| Audio narration & recording | C | A | R★ | R |
| Content approval & sign-off | I | A | C | R |
| Ongoing Operations | ||||
| Platform uptime & security monitoring | RA | I | I | — |
| Apple / Google Wallet API updates | RA | I | I | — |
| CMS content updates (new stories) | C | A | R★ | C |
| Annual content review | I | A | R★ | R |
| Knowledge holder liaison | I | A | R★ | R |
| Analytics reporting | R | A | C★ | I |
| Governance & Sovereignty | ||||
| Data sovereignty & export rights | C | AR | I | I |
| Consent withdrawal protocol | I | A | C | R |
| Technical handover documentation | RA | C | C | — |
| Platform exit / self-hosting transition | R | A | C | — |
Three technologies can link a physical tree to a digital experience. Only one is native to smartphones, native to digital wallets, discreet enough for a heritage setting, and updatable without touching the hardware.
NFC as the primary trigger — frictionless, wallet-native, and discreet. QR code as a silent backup — printed alongside the NFC tag on a small weatherproof label for visitors with older devices. The cost is negligible and ensures no one is excluded. RFID is not applicable for a consumer-facing experience — it is an operational logistics tool and has no smartphone or wallet integration pathway.
Three structurally different hosting arrangements are available to Ngāi Tūkairangi Trust. The RACI matrix below shows exactly who carries responsibility for each operational area under each scenario — making the governance implications clear before a decision is made.
Mauri Compass builds and documents the system, then hands the entire codebase and infrastructure to NGT. NGT runs it on their own cloud account.
Mauri Compass operates the platform on NGT's behalf. NGT retains full data ownership and can exit at any time with a complete data export.
Mauri Compass manages the platform with a contractual data portability clause. NGT can trigger a self-hosting transition at any point.
| Responsibility Area | Mauri Compass Digital Partner | NGT Internal Leadership & Ops | Digital Kaitiaki NGT (optional) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | A | B | C | A | B | C | |
| Infrastructure | |||||||||
| Server provisioning & cloud setup | R | R | R | I | I | I | I | I | I |
| Ongoing uptime & security monitoring | C | R | R | R | I | I | C | I | I |
| Apple / Google Wallet API updates | C | R | R | A | I | I | I | I | I |
| Hosting cost payment | — | R | R | R | I | I | — | — | — |
| Content & CMS | |||||||||
| CMS access & day-to-day content updates | C | C | C | A | A | A | R | R | R |
| Annual content review | I | I | I | A | A | A | R | R | R |
| Analytics & engagement reporting | R | R | R | A | A | A | C | C | C |
| Data & Sovereignty | |||||||||
| Data ownership | — | — | — | A | A | A | I | I | I |
| Data export & portability | R | R | R | A | A | A | C | C | C |
| Self-hosting transition (if triggered) | R | R | R | A | A | A | C | C | C |
| Governance | |||||||||
| Technical handover documentation | R | R | R | A | A | A | C | C | C |
| Consent withdrawal protocol | I | I | I | A | A | A | C | C | C |
| Platform exit decision | C | C | C | A | A | A | I | I | I |
A 12-month delivery plan across three parallel workstreams. Technical build, cultural production, and governance run concurrently — converging at the live pilot launch.