The Global Centre for Information and Communication Technologies in Parliament acts as a hub for information, research and technical assistance to parliaments in the area of ICT and offers a platform for exchanging information and expertise among parliaments, centres of excellence, international organizations, the civil society, the private sector and the donor community.
The World e-Parliament Conference is the international forum of the community of parliaments addressing, from both the political and technical perspectives, how the use of information and communication technology can help improve representation, transparency, accountability, openness, and effectiveness in the complex parliamentary environment. The World e-Parliament Conference 2010 will take place on 21 and 22 October 2010 at the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The event is co-organized by the United Nations, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Parliament of South Africa, the Pan-African Parliament and the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament.
The United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union released the World e-Parliament Report 2010. The Report, prepared by the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, intends to help legislatures to harness the potential benefits of ICT for their work and establish key goals and priorities for exploiting this valuable resource. While providing evidence of the complexities of e-parliament, the Report suggests ways to overcome some of the obstacles to the effective use of technology in parliamentary settings.
The Workshop “ICT Strategic Planning in the Carribean Parliaments”, to be held from 27 to 29 September in Bridgetown, Barbados,
intends to provide 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.
The Workshop “ICT Strategic Planning in the SADC Parliaments”, held from 26 to 28 July 2010 in Windhoek, Namibia, intended to provide a regional platform to raise awareness among the SADC parliaments on the potential of ICT in parliament and on the importance of strategic planning for the effective adoption and integration of ICT in parliamentary processes.
The Office for Promotion of Parliamentary Democracy of the European Parliament and the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament held a three-day workshop on “Technological Options for Capturing and Reporting Parliamentary Proceedings”, hosted by the European Parliament in Brussels from 14 to 16 July 2010. The event followed the dialogue started in a specialized session of the World e-Parliament Conference 2009 held in Washington, D.C., during which participants called for more inter-parliamentary cooperation in this area of work and for sharing available expertise on the implementation of different technological solutions.
The World e-Parliament Conference 2009, took place on 3, 4 and 5 November 2009 at the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., was built on the results of two previous conferences held respectively in Geneva (2007) and Brussels (2008), as well as on the findings of the World e-Parliament Report 2008. The 2009 event was co-organized by the United Nations, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union is convening the 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament - a global summit focusing on democracy, the role of legislative institutions and their relationship with the United Nations. The broad theme for the 2010 Conference is Parliaments in a world of crisis: securing global democratic accountability for the common good.
"The Australian Government now declares that, in order to promote greater participation in Australia’s democracy, it is committed to open government based on a culture of engagement, built on better access to and use of government held information, and sustained by the innovative use of technology."
The Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, Mr. Sha Zukang; the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Mr. Anders Johnson; and the Secretary General of the ITU, Mr. Hamadoun Touré opened the Third Parliamentary Forum “ICT and the Global Economic Crisis: Current Situation and Future Perspectives”. The event was the third meeting of members of parliament focusing on issues relating to the Information Society and the aim of the Forum series was to further dialogue among legislators on parliamentary actions that can contribute to the shaping of the future Information Society in view of the WSIS implementation, follow-up and future 2015 review.
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Trajko Veljanoski and the Ambassador of Switzerland in the Republic of Macedonia Nicole Wyrsch signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the project “Support of the Establishment and Development of the Parliamentary Institute”.
The Summer School LEX10 aims at providing knowledge of the most significant ICT standards emerging for legislation, judiciary, parliamentary and administrative documents. The course provides understanding of their impact in the different phases of the legislative and administrative process, awareness of the tools based on legal XML standards and of their constellations, and the ability to participate in the drafting and use of standard-compliant documents throughout law-making process.
The Foreign Ministry of Estonia is supporting the project of the e-Governance Academy through which an electronic information system is being created for the parliament of Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that using a modern system will make the work of the Afghan parliament more trustworthy, transparent and effective.
