This Guide is intended to be used by parliaments for the purposes of effectively engaging citizens through their websites. It stems from research conducted as part of the Managing Parliament’s Image project.

This Guide is intended to be used by parliaments for the purposes of effectively organising and managing their websites and the staff responsible for them. It stems from research conducted as part of the Managing Parliament’s Image project.

The National Democratic Institute (NDI), Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), the Omidyar Network and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) organized the conference "Governing Democratically in a Tech-Empowered World", on 23-24 April 2013, to explore how technology is changing the ways in which democracies function and how to support democratic institutions, particularly in developing democracies, in adapting to these changes. Anders Johnsson, Secretary General of IPU, delivered opening remarks and UN/DESA was represented by Flavio Zeni, Chief Technical Adviser, Africa i-Parliament Action Plan.

• Agenda and Annotated Agenda (PDF)

The World e-Parliament Conference 2012 was held at the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, in Rome, on 13, 14 and 15 September. The Conference concluded on the International Day of Democracy, established in 2008 by the UN General Assembly.

The Reports, prepared by the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, intend 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 Reports suggest ways to overcome some of the obstacles to the effective use of technology in parliamentary settings.

The streams, available via HouseLive.gov, include videos of proceedings dating back to the start of the 111th Congress. Interested parties can click on “Video” to watch each session. They can also click on “Summary” to view text-only versions of the proceedings. MP3 files are also featured on the page, which notes that Windows Media Player or Silverlight is required to view the videos.

The European Union’s cyber security agency, ENISA held a special event to discuss how Europe’s “digital society” can be kept safe for all citizens.

New media platforms are changing how people communicate with each other around the world. However, there is great variation in both the kind of communication platforms people make use of as well as in how they access these platforms. Computer ownership and internet access are still the prerogative of the wealthy few in wide swathes of the African continent. All the same, mobile internet access is on the rise and if current growth rates continue, African mobile phone penetration will reach 100 per cent by 2014.

As noted at the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, sponsored by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2010, citizens have delegated power to parliaments to represent them, a mandate that is based on public confidence. Parliamentarians therefore have a responsibility to account to their electorate on the way that mandate is exercised. Yet in old and new democracies alike, public trust is often low in parliaments, political parties and indeed the entire political system.

1. Governing at a time of technological changes
2. An overview of the findings of the World e-Parliament Report 2010

Statements and Presentations - World e-Parliament Conference 2009

Agenda of the World e-Parliament Conference 2009

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.