Second Regional Workshop “The Impact of New Technologies in the Transformation of the Legislative Branch: From Awareness, to Planning, to Action”
The Regional Workshop entitled “The Impact of New Technologies in the Transformation of the Legislative Branch: From Awareness, to Planning, to Action” was roganized by the United Nations, through its Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD), from May 30th ‐ June 1st, 2012, in Bridgetown, Barbados.
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First Regional Workshop on ICT Strategic Planning in the Parliaments of the Caribbean
The Regional Workshop
on ICT Strategic Planning in Parliaments of the Caribbean, held from 27 to 29 September in Bridgetown,
Barbados, provided a regional platform to exchange practices among the Caribbean parliaments on the
potential of ICT in parliament and on the importance of strategic planning for its effective adoption and integration in parliamentary processes.
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Technical Missions
Two technical assistance missions of one week took place in each parliament of the Caribbean region. Each mission was conducted by a team of two/three experts, preferably IT staff of more technologically-advanced parliaments, who worked with the staff of the beneficiary parliament. The first mission aimed to carry out an assessment of the state of ICT of the parliament and outline gaps and opportunities for future strategic recommendations for its improvement. The second mission focused on the preparation of the strategic plan. Between the first and second mission, the mission team of experts prepared an Assessment Report to help maximize the impact of the second mission and the following formulation of the ICT strategic plan. The Assessment Report was shared with the recipient parliaments in between missions in order to finalize it with additional contributions and inputs. In addition, members of the strategic planning teams of each parliament were exposed to the tools, resources and methods needed for upgrading their skills and build institutional capacity in this domain. Parallel to it, the strategic planners’ teams were invited to take part in a virtual discussion with peers from other parliaments in the region, which resulted in the establishment of a regional community of practice of planners
A second technical assistance mission in the framework of the Project "Support to ICT Strategic Planning in the Caribbean Parliaments" carried out important ICT visioning and strategic planning exercises at the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda, between 30 April and 4 May. The team consisted of the the National Project Officer from CARICAD and a senior e-Parliament expert from the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament.
Between 23 and 27 April a second technical mission to the Parliament of Grenada took place.
The mission was led by the National Project Officer of CARICAD
supported by a Senior Parliamentary Expert from the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, as well by a Senior IT Manager of the House of Representatives of Australia.
The second technical mission to the Parliament of Saint Lucia took place between 26 and 30 March. The mission was led by the National Project Officer of CARICAD supported by a Senior Parliamentary ICT Advisor of the Global Center. Thanks to the excellent follow up and organization of the Parliament of Saint Lucia the second mission was able to take place so quick after the first one (at the beginning of March).
The second technical mission to the Parliament of Guyana took place between 12 and 16 March. The mission was led by the Senior Advisor of the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, supported by the National Project Officer of CARICAD. In addition the mission was integrated for two days by an expert from the National Assembly of Suriname to provide for visioning purposes a demonstration of the UNDESA-developed BUNGENI parliamentary information system.
The second mission to the Senate of the Dominican Republic took place between 19 and 23 March. The mission is supported by the Senate of Chile through the provision of senior technical expertise. In addition the mission is joined by senior expertise from UNDESA´s Africa i-Parliament Action Plan.
The second mission to the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago took place between 5 and 9 March. The ICT Strategic Plan and Implementation Roadmap were successfully developed. There was a high level of leadership involvement and endorsement, as well as critical and valuable inputs from senior staff. The mission benefited from the excellent ICT planning expertise provided by the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada.
Between 20 and 23 February a second technical mission from the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, consisting of the the Project Coordinator Mr. Avinash Bikha, and Mr. Vanderlei Batista Dos Santos, Electronic Archiving Expert from the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, visited the National Assembly of Suriname, for facilitating the ICT strategic planning process at the Assembly.
Following the first technical assistance missions carried out by the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament in September and November 2011, respectively to the National Assembly of Belize and the Parliament of Barbados in the framework of the European Commission funded project “Support to ICT Strategic Planning in Caribbean Parliaments”, the second missions took place between 19 January and 1 February with the aim of assisting each legislature with the formulation of a shared vision for ICT and a strategic plan. In addition the technical missions will advise on the technical implementation options.
The technical assistance mission team from the Global Centre with support from the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, succesfully completed the first mission to the National Assembly of the Republic of Suriname. Besides assessing the ICT infrastructure, organization, services delivery within the institution a thourough analysis was made of the archiving standards, policies and needs.
From 5 to 9 December in the framework of the European Commission funded project “Support to ICT Strategic Planning in Caribbean Parliaments”, a first technical assistance mission visited the "Red House" and other parliamentary buildings, to carry out an assessment on the state of ICT at the Parliament.
From 14-18 November in the framework of the European Commission funded project “Support to ICT Strategic Planning in Caribbean Parliaments”, a first technical assistance mission visited the Houses of Parliament of Grenada. The mission team was strengthened with support from the Parliament of Australia, through the provision of a senior IT expert.
In the framework of the European Commission funded project “Support to ICT Strategic Planning in the Caribbean Parliaments”, a first technical mission was conducted to the Parliament of Barbados (19 to 23 September 2011) to carry out an assessment of the status of ICT in both Houses of the Parliament and make initial recommendation for the ICT Strategic Plan.
