The Legislature a fundamental aspect of democratic governance in any nation provides an interactive, participatory and
consultative platform for citizens’input in the decision-making process by harnessing Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) tools for improving parliamentary processes, services and functions. In this study, we investigate the extent of the application of
ICT in parliament, particularly in emerging economies, making distinctions while identifying the most important requirements,
technical challenges and proposing solutions to addressing the challenges. Some of the major challenges explored included limited
resources available to parliaments, insufficient technical knowledge among legislative staff, little citizen engagement and lack of
standardized software in addition to security issues. Solutions proposed include the introduction of s-parliament concept for a smarter
parliament through better utilization of big data and Internet of Things (IoT), better document management and storage systems, use of
XML-based standardized software, improved ICT security, increasing public trust and enhance citizen participation in the decisionmaking
process.
Abdulsalam S. Mustafa : Computer Science Department, Khazar University
Baku, Azerbaijan.
Mahammad Sharifov : Computer Science Department, Khazar University
Baku, Azerbaijan.
e-parliament, ICT in parliament, Internet of Things, big data, XML
In designing and developing websites an important
component of e-parliament, it is important for parliaments
to first determine the ever-increasing demands of the
citizens as parliamentary websites are meant to be
citizens- centric, accessible, easy to use, open and
transparent to engage the electorates in the democratic
process. Only few parliaments consider it important to
publish open data on their websites including data on
salaries of MPs, MPs attendance, committee reports,
expenditures and oversight over the executive. ICT offers
benefits to parliaments and is the first step towards the
adoption of e-parliament.
[1] Diermeire D, Formal Models of Legislature, The
Oxford Handbook of Legislative Studies, Oxford,
2014.
[2] Saudi Arabia Constitution of 1992 with Amendments
throughout 2013.
[3] Global Center for ICT, 2009 World e-Parliament
Report, United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs and the Inter-Parliamentary in
Parliament, 2009.
[4] Global Center for ICT, 2008 World e-Parliament
Report, United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs and the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
2008.
[5] Tyumere M, E-Parliament to e-Democracy: Creating
a Model for Effective Management of Public
Content, 2011.
[6] Global Center for ICT, 2016 World e-Parliament
Report, United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs and the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
2016.
[7] Aderonke A and Samuel O, E-parliament and
Democratic Representation in African States:
Prospects and Challenges. International Journal of
Computers and Technology, vol.3, issue.6, pp.4566-
4567, 2014.
[8] Leston-Bandeira C, Studying the Relationship
between Parliament and Citizens, The Journal of
Legislative Studies, vol.18, issue.3-4, 2012.
[9] Bwalya Kelvin Joseph, Plessis Tanya Du and
Reinsleigh Chris, Conceptualization of e-parliament
in promoting e-democracy: prospects for the SADC
region. E-parliament and ICT Based Legislation,
pp.295-311, 2012.
[10] Campbell, A, Harrop A and Thompson B, United
Nations E-Government Survey 2014: E-Government
for the Future We Want. Economic and Social
Affairs, United Nations: New York, United Nations
E-government Development Database. 2018 January
21. Available from:
http://www.unpan.org/GeGF/2014/.
[11] Arter D, The Finnish Eduskunta: Still the Nordic
‘Vatican’? Journal of Legislative Studies, vol.18,
issue.3–4, pp.275–293, 2012.
[12] Tapio R, “Transparency and dialogue with citizens:
gateways to increased trust in parliaments?”,2016.
[13] Peter Mba, Demystifying Intra-Legislative Conflicts
in Nigeria: The Senate and the House of
Representatives, 2007-2011 vol.5, issue.1, 2014.
[14] ParlWork Project Team, ParlWork: Bringing
Information Together, Parliament of Australia, 2015.
[15] Korea Internet & Security Agency, Korea Internet
White Paper, 2015.
[16] Cheung-Moon Cho, South Korea’s Efforts to Prevent
Internet Addiction, The Cambridge Handbook of
International Prevention Science, pp.551-573,2017. [17] US Library of Congress, Features of Parliamentary
Websites in Selected Jurisdictions, 2017.
[18] Azevedo-Harman, E-Parliaments in Africa:
Representative institutions in the land of the “Big
Man”. The Journal of Legislative Studies, vol.17,
issue.1, pp.65– 85, 2011.
[19] Ojo, J. S, E-Governance: An Imperative for
Sustainable Grassroots Development in Nigeria.
Journal of Public Admin & Policy Research, vol.6,
issue.2, pp.77-89, 2014.
[20] Maphephe John, Rishi Balkaran and Colin Thakur,
Impact of Information and Communication
Technology Presence on Direct Parliament Debates
and Security of the Future Laws of Mountain
Kingdom of Lesotho, Computing, Information
Systems, Development Informatics & Allied
Research Journal, vol.5, issue.3, 2014
[21] Robert Mattes, Joel D. Barkan, Shaheen Mozaffar,
African Legislatures: A Glass Half Full? Do
Parliaments Matter? African Legislatures and the
Advancement of Democracy, Heinrich Böll
Foundation, pp.8-12, 2012.
[22] Fraser-Moleketi G and Senghor D, E-governance and
Citizen Participation in West Africa: Challenges and
Opportunities, 2011.
[23] Gant J. P, The Electronic Government for
Developing Countries Policies and Strategies (Draft),
International Telecommunication Union, Geneva,
August 2008.
[24] Kanthawongs P, The user perspective of e-parliament
systems in Thailand Parliament, 2005.
[25] Kanthawongs P and Sang M. L, Enabling EParliament
Systems to Enhance User Engagement: A
Case Study of the Thai Parliament, 2008.
[26] Leston-Bandeira C, Parliamentary Functions
Portrayed on European Parliaments’ Websites, 2009.
[27] Papolio A and Gouscous D, E-parliaments and novel
parliament-to-citizen services: An initial overview
and proposal, 2010.
[28] Leston-Bandeira C, The impact of the Internet on
parliaments: a legislative studies framework.
Parliamentary Affairs, vol.60, issue.4, pp.655-674,
2009.
[29] Sobaci, M, E-Parliament and ICT-Based Legislation:
Concept, Experiences and Lessons, University of
Uludag, Turkey, 2012.
