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.

The 2012 Law Via the Internet (LVI 2012) took place at the Cornell Legal Information Institute (Ithaca, New York) from 7 to 9 October 2012 and covered themes on free and open access to legal information: open government and e- participation, legal publishing, open access and sustainability, applications, data management, etc.

• 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 National Democracy Institute and the World Bank Institute recently published a report which identifies 190 parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMOs) in over 80 countries, documents good practices in parliamentary monitoring and suggests recommendations for the international donor community in supporting PMOs.  It draws on surveys completed by 63 PMOs, interviews with PMO leaders and representatives of international organizations engaged in supporting PMO activities.

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 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.

Launched in August 2011, the UK's online e-petitions initiative allows any British citizen to petition the government for an item to be debated in the House of Commons. If a petition passes muster by government standards and collects over 100,000 signatures within a year, then it becomes due for debate in Parliament during time set aside for "backbencher debates" — discourse between lawmakers who don't have a government portfolio or a prominent spot in the opposition, set up through a new committee in the Commons.

Connecting Citizens to Parliament - research from the Hansard Society published today - demonstrates that half the public (52%) are not really interested in Parliament and do not want to be involved in what it does. The research explores which communities and social groups are not engaging with Parliament, why and how this might be redressed.

On 15 September, the IPU and parliaments around the world celebrate the third International Day of Democracy, declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007.

The absence of an internationally-agreed legal framework hampers the fight against cybercrime. This session will examine the existing mechanisms for international coordination on cyber-security and discuss options for inter-parliamentary cooperation on and support to the cyber-security agenda.

Law-making in specialized parliamentary committees, oversight over regulatory bodies and scrutiny on governmental actions, targeted hearings and investigations, and representations of citizens and businesses concerns are some of the options available to parliaments to enhance cyber-security. The session will review a few practices carried out by legislatures around the world to respond to the cyber-security challenges and their effectiveness.