The People’s Majlis of Maldives is driving an ambitious digital transformation agenda, aiming to facilitate improved public engagement, integrate advanced technologies, and cater to the needs of differently-abled individuals. Presently, they have eight key projects in the pipeline, with a few already in progress. These initiatives range from speech-to-text transcription services and sign language interpretation to the creation of a digital archive and an online library. This essay explores the progress, challenges, and future plans of these digital transformation initiatives.

Speech-to-Text Transformation

The first project of the Majlis is implementing a speech recognition software, which is under development in collaboration with third-party developers. The software is designed to transcribe parliamentary debates from audio files, an essential feature being the identification of individual speakers. The objective is to automate the process of writing Hansard reports.

Currently, the software’s accuracy is approximately 80%, while speaker identification is around 10%. While there are challenges such as the absence of punctuation and occasional spelling or grammar errors, the hope is to improve these metrics with more data to train the AI. The software, unfortunately, does not yet support live audio, and requires the audio to be split into 15-minute clips for processing.

A significant challenge lies in the unique linguistic context of the Maldives. The local Dhivehi language, spoken by a limited population, poses difficulties for AI training due to the lack of abundant data. The team is currently using the Mozilla Common Voice as one of their underlying datasets, although contributions in Dhivehi on this platform are limited.

Sign Language Interpretation

The People’s Majlis has also successfully implemented sign language interpretation into their live broadcast feed, increasing accessibility for the hearing-impaired population. This initiative is a testament to their commitment to inclusivity and making parliamentary debates accessible to a broader audience.

Digital Archive and Online Library

The Majlis has initiated a digital archive project, scanning, uploading, and verifying a diverse range of historical materials, including documents, books, photos, audio and video cassettes, floppy disks, and more. Over 3,500 documents have been digitised so far, using an open-source software called DSpace.

In addition to this, an online library has been established to increase public engagement. While the physical library is currently available only to current and former members of the Majlis, the online library is accessible to the general public. Future plans include allowing the public to reserve or borrow books.

Future Plans

The Majlis has an ambitious roadmap for future digital initiatives. These include the development of a legislative portal aimed at integrating all systems currently in use and eliminating redundant tasks. The portal will also include a members’ portal and a registered reporter to streamline the publication of documents or items to the website.

In addition to this, they plan to incorporate a text-to-speech feature on their website to increase accessibility for individuals with visual impairments. The team is also looking to enhance public engagement by launching an electronic petition feature on the website.

Conclusion

The People’s Majlis of Maldives is proactively leveraging digital technologies to drive inclusivity, improve public engagement, and enhance efficiencies in their operations. While they are making commendable progress, the road to digital transformation is not without its challenges, especially given the unique linguistic context of the Maldives. However, the dedication of the team, combined with their commitment to leveraging advanced technologies, suggests a promising future for the digital transformation journey of the Maldives’ legislative assembly.