Open Parliament:transparency and accountability

for a more open Legislature

Global Centre for ICT in Parliament

Launched at WSIS in November 2005 as a joint UN and IPU initiativeOperational in Rome since 2006Guided by a high-level Board of 9 Speakers of Parliament + the President of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliament (ASGP) + USG of DESA + President of IPUFinanced on a volutary basis by donors

Mission of the Centre

To promote the use of ICT as a means to modernize parliamentary processes (efficiency, effectiveness, transparency)To strengthen the role of parliaments in the promotion of the Information Society through fostering IS-related legislation

Functional areas of workAnalysis and research servicesNetworking and knowledge sharing services Capacity development and advisory services Advocacy, awareness, coordination and information services

www.ictparliament.org

Selected key activities/outcomesSeries of World e-Parliament Conferences (Geneva, 2007; Brussels, 2008; Washington, 2009; South Africa, 2010)Series of Parliamentary Forums on Shaping the Information Society (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)Global Survey on ICT in Parliament (2007, 2009, 2012 ongoing)World e-Parliament Reports 2008, 2010 and 2012 (forthcoming)Guidelines on Parliamentary Websites (2009)

Establishment of regional Networks among Parliamentary Administrations (APKN, Africa; RIPALC, Latin America and the Caribbean)Handbook on ICT-based Parliamentary Libraries (2012 forthcoming)Handbook on Technology Options for Capturing and Recording Parliamentary Proceedings (2012)Mission of technical assistance in 37 parliaments on ICT assessment and/or strategic planning Series of 14 trainings/seminars on ICT issues for parliamentary staff

Selected key activities/outcomes

Parliaments that participated in one or more activities of the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament

267 National chambers in the world

244 Participated in one or more activities25 Never participated

123 Participated more than 4 times73 Participated more than 6 times24 Participated more than 10 times

EP, PAP, EALA, ECOWAS, SADC PF, Council of Europe have also participated in several activities

Parliaments that participated in one or more activities of the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament

Parliaments that received advisory services through the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament

37 chambers received advisory services - 70 activities

Parliaments that provided staff for advisory services through the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament

55 missions – 16 chambers provided staff

105 Parliaments participated in 2008 in the Global Survey on ICT in Parliament

135 Parliaments participated in 2010 in the Global Survey on ICT in Parliament

More than 140 Parliaments completed the ongoing 2012 Global Survey on ICT in Parliament

Some findings

Trust in parliament is declining at a time of rapid technology evolution which is impacting on the growing demand for transparency from citizens

Technologies that will grow the most in the next years in Parliaments to engage citizens:• Online discussion groups and e-consultation• Online polls• e-Petition• Webcasting of committee sessions• Alerting services• Video sharing services• Parliamentary radio channel and web TV channels

When do parliaments consult with citizens?

Methods used to communicate with young people

What does it make a Parliament open?

• transparent: open to the nation through different media, and transparent in the conduct of its business;• accessible: involves the public, including the associations and movements of civil society, in the work of parliament;• accountable: members of parliament are accountable to the electorate for their performance in office and integrity of their conduct; • effective: organizes effectively its business in accordance with these democratic values, and facilitates the evaluation of the performance of parliament’s legislative and oversight functions.

Use of open document standards and open data

• Exchange of documents• Search• Linking among documents• Multiple forms of output• Consistency in formatting• Ease of preparation• Preservation• Access for citizens

XML, as an open semantic standard for documents, offers several advantages that have not yet been fully exploited

Use of open document standards and open dataAnticipating the adoption of XML to the very first phases of the law-making process can:• reinforce the rigour in law-drafting• reduce the subsequent transformations• limit mistakes • improve the overall document quality

XML can be leveraged to quickly and flexibly embrace new communication channels for members and the public, such as mobile devices and video. The expectations of rapid technological developments in these areas will require special attention by parliaments in the future.

Use of open document standards and open data

“Washington consensus”

There is a need to identify a series of internationally-agreed criteria and benchmarks for

assessing the contribution of the use of open document standards to the values of a democratic

parliament: representation, transparency, accessibility, accountability and effectiveness.

Parliaments should commit to the use of open document standards to increase their efficiency and transparency

Parliaments should engage the open data community and parliamentary monioring organizations to find ways to better serve their constituency

At the international level, Parliaments should participate in parliamentary exchanges at regional and global level to benefits from good practices and from the development of common tools