In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Latvian parliament (Saeima) was forced to adopt digital innovations at a speed never witnessed before. In order to ensure that legislators were able to fulfil core parliamentary functions while adhering to physical distancing requirements necessary to limit the spread of the virus, a holistic technological solution was developed, called the “e-Saeima”.
For 2021’s virtual World e-Parliament Conference, the IPU’s Centre for Innovation in Parliament asked parliaments what digital innovations they were particularly proud of. As a result, 14 parliaments shared their innovations in what we called the Parliamentary showcase.

The World e-Parliament Report 2020 documents the experiences, innovations and lessons learned in making sure parliaments continued to function during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report is based on data from 116 parliaments and focus groups involving 49 parliaments. Part one of the Report presents the lessons from the pandemic. Part two provides a detailed analysis of the overall ICT situation in parliaments in 2020 in the areas of governance, management, systems and infrastructure, transparency and public engagement.

In June, the IPU’s Centre for Innovation in Parliament organized the 9th World e-Parliament Conference, held virtually for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Conference, run over three days, attracted 650 participants, drawn from 119 national parliaments as well as regional and sub-national parliaments, NGOs and academia. The Conference proved popular, with 95% of participants rating it highly – 57% very highly – and over 90% indicating that they would like to continue the discussion at future events.
Thematic

New videos

ICT governance hub
Parliamentary Data Science thematic hub
Transparency
Innovation tracker | Issue 9 | 27 Jul 2021

As part of the World e-Parliament Conference 2021, new videos are available for all our thematic innovation hubs.

Hosts: Brazil, Israel
ICT governance hubParliamentary Data Science thematic hubTransparency
Regional

New videos

East African hub
Hispanophone hub
Southern African hub
Pacific hub
Innovation tracker | Issue 9 | 27 Jul 2021

As part of the World e-Parliament Conference 2021, new videos are available for some of our regional innovation hubs.

Hosts: Kenya, Chile, Zambia, Fiji
East African hubHispanophone hubSouthern African hubPacific hub
This ninth edition of the Innovation Tracker features highlights from the virtual World e-Parliament Conference 2021 which was held in June 2021. It also includes the IPU's new World e-Parliament Report and showcases parliamentary video innovations from around the world.©
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