About the eDemocracy Unit

Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas

eDemocracy can be defined as the use of Internet and information and communications technology (ICT) to support the democratic process.

A changing environment

Much has been written about eGovernment, which tends to focus on the executive branch of government, and is concerned with the electronic delivery of government services.

eParliament is focused on the parliamentary branch of government, that is the legislative, oversight and representational role of the Houses and Members. eDemocracy subsumes eParliament, and will also include public consultation, and public participation in policy formulation, perhaps through the use of parliamentary committees.

The first stage of eDemocracy project is concerned with ensuring that all public service information is available on-line through the Web for Members, and the public, at the same time, or faster than it is delivered through traditional channels.

Later stages of eDemocracy will be concerned with on-line delivery of services, and the rearrangement and integration of services around user needs, and public involvement in public consultation and policy formulation.

The mission of the eDemocracy Unit is to manage the analysis, design and implementation of the eDemocracy process in the Houses of the Oireachtas, using the best available tools and systems, complying with international standards, including XML.

The eDemocracy project will include consultations with most sections of the Office, and collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of the Taoiseach (Information Society Policy Unit), the eCabinet project, and the Department of Finance (CMOD). A variety of resources will be deployed to ensure the successful implementation of the eDemocracy project, including Internal resources, external contractors and consultants, and discussions with parliaments in other countries, and interested academics.

The requirements of the systems will include:

• longevity (decades, or longer);
• reuse of content (all sections in the Office should be able to easily exchange and reuse documents);
• re-purposing of content (the same content should be suitable for in-house use, printing, Web, CD ROM, and PDA (portable document assistant - a small hand held device);
• and ease of use.

Progress to date

Significant progress has been made since 1996, when the Office launched its first Web site.

• The full text of the entire Dáil and Seanad debates 1919 until today are now available on the Houses' Web site.
• The full text of bills initiated since 1997, and all Acts of the Oireachtas enacted since 1997 are also published on the Web.
• A bilingual version of the Acts of the Oireachtas 1922 - 2002 which was launched on the Web in December 2003, including a facility to switch between Irish and English by clicking a button on screen;
• The agenda This Week ... for both Houses and parliamentary committees is published on the Web site the previous week.

Current projects include:

• eLegislation, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General, the Office will develop a system to enable the electronic drafting, processing and publication of bills, amendment lists, and Acts of the Oireachtas;
• Review of the Houses' Web site, to take account of recent developments in Web publication standards, including accessibility, and Irish Public Service Metadata Standard.

Why is it important?

The eDemocracy project, together the eCabinet project, and other eGovernment initiatives, will facilitate the creation of a knowledge based organisation in the Office, and in the public service. This will lead to a more efficient and effective organisation, and job enrichment for staff, as barriers to the sharing of knowledge are broken down.

Leo Bollins
Principal Clerk
Head of eDemocracy Unit
2 January 2004