HOLYROOD PRAISED FOR USE OF IT AT MEETING OF
EUROPEAN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES IN BARCELONA

096/2005 | 24 October 2005

The Scottish Parliament was today praised as an international centre of excellence in its use of information technology.

The Presidents of the Legislative Assemblies of Europe, meeting in Barcelona, were addressed by Presiding Officer George Reid on Holyrood's commitment to eDemocracy in areas such as on-line consultation, ePetitioning, interactive services to schools and to people with disabilities.

Speaking in response to Mr Reid's address, President Ernest Benach i Pasqual of the Catalan Parliament said:

"Scotland leads the way in its use of IT to engage with the citizen."

President Izaskun Bilbao of the Basque Parliament, which will host 1500 delegates at the IT4ALL Conference in November, added:

"The work done at Holyrood is of importance to the democratic process worldwide."

Mr Reid warned delegates, however, that IT is "only a tool for parliamentarians, not an end in itself."

He said:

"It supplements personal contact between elected representatives and voters. It does not supplant it."

The Scottish Parliament's ePetitions system has been widely praised since its formal launch in 2004.

The Committee has been nominated for an award at next month's eEurope Award for eGovernment event in Manchester in recognition of its e-petitioning system.

In August, the German Parliament - the Bundestag - announced it was launching an electronic petitions system based on a version used by the Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions Committee. For more information on this, visit http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-comm-05/cpet05-003.htm

And there was also praise for the Parliament's e-Petitioning facility at an event in the European Parliament in Brussels in May, held by EPRI (European Parliaments Research Initiative) Knowledge. For more information on this, visit http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-05/pa05-046.htm

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