5 October 2005

The Scottish parliament has been presenting its e-government developments, including its use of the Internet as a democratic tool at an international conference.

Delegates at the sixth Worldwide Forum on e-Democracy in Paris heard about the Scottish parliament's commitment to getting the public engaged in politics via the web.

MSP George Reid gave a speech on his parliament's promotion of e-democracy. However, he also spoke of the need for more to be done to get greater public involvement in the decision-making process.

He went on to emphasise issues of accessibility, talking about the importance of getting young people and those with disabilities accessing political information online.

"This was an excellent opportunity to share the Scottish parliament's experience in the field of e-democracy, and to demonstrate that the world of politics must keep pace with the world of information technology," he commented.

The Scottish parliament's e-democracy work has already won praise with its e-petitioning scheme being short-listed for an eEurope award. The scheme is giving the public the opportunity to raise and sign petitions online as well as then commenting on the issues via an interactive online discussion forum.

Germany's parliament has already followed Scotland's lead and created its own e-petitions scheme in August.

© Adfero Ltd

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