Presiding Officer to discuss 'digital divide' at Bilbao conference

109/2005 | 10 November 2005

George Reid speaking in Bilbao

The Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer, George Reid, is speaking in the Spanish city of Bilbao today (Thursday) at a conference to examine how developing ‘electronic solidarity’ around the world can provide new social and economic advantages.

Mr Reid is speaking in a debate and chairing a workshop during the three-day World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society in the Biscayan capital.

More than 2,000 representatives from regional authorities, cities and non-governmental organisations around the world will be at the conference, including the Republic of Senegal and the region of Delhi, in India. Representatives from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) will also attend.

Mr Reid will outline a range of the Scottish Parliament’s e-services, such as its award-nominated e-petitioning system and the extensive webcasting offered through the Parliament’s online service, www.holyrood.tv.

During the World Summit, the cities and regions represented in Bilbao will approve a Plan of Action. The plan will be discussed further at another summit in Tunisia later this month and will eventually be passed to the United Nations Organisation (UN).

The UN is keen to reduce world poverty by half by 2015 and views the universal use of information technologies – closing the ‘digital divide’ – as key to achieving this objective.

The Presiding Officer said: “Extending the reach of IT and the internet to parts of the world that do not have access is a major challenge that must be addressed.

“The Scottish Parliament has taken the initiative in promoting the use of e-Democracy. These kinds of technologies are performing an increasingly important role in the democratic process.

“I look forward to discussing these issues with world authorities in Bilbao and establishing how we can bridge the ‘digital divide’ between those who have access to IT facilities and those who do not.”

The Presiding Officer will take part in this morning’s opening debate, ‘Local Authorities in the Information Society: The Vision of the Regions’, where he will outline the Scottish Parliament’s information technology services.

He will also chair an afternoon workshop, ‘e-Administration and e-Democracy’, which will examine the new link that has been formed between administrations and citizens through the establishment of new technologies.

Delegates at the conference will include:

• Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal;

• Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of the Region of Delhi, India;

• Izaskun Bilbao, President of the Basque Parliament;

• José Montilla, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Commerce of
Spain;

• Luis Eduardo Garzón, Mayor of Bogota, Colombia;

• Murchison Brown, Mayor of Port Spain, Trinidad and Tobago;

• Dianah L. Neff, Mayor’s Office of Information Services, Chief Information Officer of Philadelphia, USA;

• Marcel Boisard, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR);

• Jon Patrick, Professor, University of Sydney, Chair of Language Technology, Australia.

The Presiding Officer, as well as representing the Scottish Parliament, is attending on behalf of the e-democracy group of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE).

Mr Reid spoke at a CALRE plenary session in Barcelona last month, where President Ernest Benach i Pasqual of the Catalan Parliament said “Scotland leads the way in its use of IT to engage with the citizen.”

Background Note

The Scottish Parliament's e-petitions system has been widely praised since its formal launch in 2004.
For more information, visit
www.scottish.parliament.uk/edemocracy

The Public Petitions Committee has been nominated for an award at this month's eEurope Award for eGovernment event in Manchester in recognition of its e-petitioning system.
For more information on this, visit
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-05/pa05-098.htm

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

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

And earlier this month, a European Parliament official visited the Parliament for guidance on setting up a web television channel following the success of www.holyrood.tv.
For more information on this visit
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-05/pa05-101.htm

Pictures of the day

Pictures of the Presiding Officer addressing the conference in Bilbao will be available on request, free of charge, from the Parliament’s Media Relations Office on 0131 348 6269.

The Parliament's media contact is:

Sally Coyne Tel: 0131 348 6269
RNID TypeTalk calls welcome
email: sally.coyne@scottish.parliament.uk

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Text phone: 0131 348 3415 RNID Typetalk calls welcome
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