Executive Summary

The extraordinary advances and rapid social and economic diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) have had a profound impact on the lives of individual citizens and on the functioning of public institutions. As technology, citizen engagement, and the political process have come together, parliaments have been confronted with growing demands to be more open and more responsive to citizens. Currently, however, global economic conditions are forcing many legislatures to work with fewer resources. Technology alone cannot address all the challenges, but when planned and implemented strategically, it can generate gains in efficiency and effectiveness throughout the legislature’s operations, while fostering the parliamentary democratic values of transparency, accountability and accessibility.

Related Subject(s): Democracy and Governance