The CIP and the Parliamentary Data Science (PDS) Hub, coordinated by the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, have identified a compelling need to dive more deeply into governance and practice around the use of AI-based applications in parliaments. This is to ensure that their development and use are managed responsibly and that systems are effective. It is the IPU’s view that this is best done collaboratively among parliaments.

Parliaments participating in the PDS Hub have therefore embarked on an ambitious initiative to co-create a set of guidelines on AI governance in parliaments. The guidelines are intended to be a practical tool, written by parliaments, for parliaments. Aimed principally at parliamentary IT managers and staff, they will identify and prioritize actions to support parliaments on their journey towards a culture of data-driven management, providing a sound basis for the possible future use of AI.

The initiative kicked off with an in-person workshop in Brasilia in April 2024. It was attended by experts from 13 parliaments from around the world, who identified the areas that the guidelines would cover: 

• AI applied to parliamentary proceedings
  • Legislative processes
  • Administrative processes
  • Citizen interactions
  • Government oversight
• Risks of inappropriate use of AI 
• Biases
• Ethical principles in the use of AI
• AI governance at strategic level
• Ancillary processes for AI governance 
  • Information management
  • Information security
  • Risk management
  • AI portfolio management
• AI systems development process
• Human resources
• AI systems certification
• AI outsourcing