PARLIAMENT IN EDINBURGH GOES LIVE ON INTERNET FOR FIRST TIME - THURSDAY

Internet viewers will be able to follow live and uninterrupted debates on the Health Service, and also, at 3.10pm, watch the final First Minister’s Question Time of the Parliamentary year.

At a meeting today, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body also approved ambitious plans to webcast regular plenary sessions following the summer recess and to webcast some committee proceedings from October.

Helping the Parliament promote its pilot webcast on Thursday will be:

• yahoo.com – the world’s biggest internet portal site will, through its "Net Events" page, directly link millions of users to the Parliament’s live site;

• AOL.com – the world’s second largest internet portal site will also provide a prominent link to the Parliament’s site;

• earthcam.com – The world largest webcam portal will link directly to the live parliamentary proceedings.

Other organisations with web sites are being encouraged to do likewise, using the URL www.scottishparliamentlive.com to take surfers directly to the webcast pages. Alternatively, internet users can link through the "What’s Happening" pages of the Parliament’s permanent web site www.scottish.parliament.uk

Assisting the Parliament in their pilot webcast on 6 July, is www.camvista.com, a Kirkcaldy based company and the UK largest provider of webcam services.

BACKGROUND NOTES

The Scottish Parliament was amongst the first in the world to use the internet as a "live broadcasting" medium, webcasting its entire opening ceremony on 1^st July, 1999

All five plenary sessions in Glasgow were webcast in May 2000.