NovaWorks, represented by its CEO, Jonathan Ruckert, was present in one of the most relevant conferences around the globe to discuss the legislative modernisation and digital transformation in Parliaments and Subnational Legislatures, that reunited at least 47 countries to exchange experiences in that agenda.
This september, NovaWorks Australia was part of the global conference promoted by Bússola Tech, known as “LegisTech Forum – 3rd edition”, held between 12th and 16th September 2022, which brought together representatives of National and Subnational Parliaments from 47 countries, represented by its CEO, Jonathan Ruckert.
The conference, dedicated to the legislative community, composed of parliamentarians, parliamentary staff, and public servants – such as secretaries-general, legislative attorneys, legislative consultants, directors of Technology (IT/ICTs) and legislative modernisation, has as an objective to promote an environment of trust for sharing the challenges in each institutional modernisation and digital transformation strategy.
This third edition featured approximately 60 hours of programme related to the agenda of digital transformation in the legislative and institutional modernisation, segmented into debates and case presentations, with more than 76 activities simultaneously translated into English, Spanish and Portuguese, with punctual interpretation for other languages during the event. It also welcomed two special activities, from EnGITEC (Interlegis/Brazil) and ParlAmericas. The event addressed themes that made the community reflect about the future of the modernization of the legislative power in the world, as well as specialized topics.
Throughout the conference, Mr Ruckert exchanged knowledge and had the opportunity to have insightful discussions with a diverse range of legislative houses and interparliamentary organisations, of which we can mention: the European Parliament, the Parliament of New Zealand, the Eduskunta of Finland, the Chilean Congress, the House of Commons of Canada, the Chancellery of the Riigikogu of Estonia, the Hellenic Parliament, the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, the Oireachtas of Ireland, the State Great Hural of Mongolia, the National Conference on Citizenship in U.S., the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Senate of Countries as Brazil, Spain, the National Assembly of countries as Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius and Zambia and the House of Representatives of countries as Argentina, Colombia and Mexico.
During the event, Jonathan Ruckert was involved in rich debates and conversations regarding the digital transformation of the aforementioned legislatures, the integration of participation channels in the legislative process, topics around the enterprise architecture for legislative modernisation, discussions about how to phase-out legacy systems and how to match old and new technologies and the management of digital legislative archives.
“It was a great pleasure to be part of this unique event. Throughout the debates and panel discussions, it became very evident of why these types of events are crucial to the modernisation of legislative authorities and the ability for Bussola Tech to bring together such a wide and varied audience was greatly appreciated. Sharing of knowledge between countries and jurisdictions to give ideas and to also to help understand that they are not alone in this space will I hope speed up and strengthen the resolve for greater transparency and citizen centric services in the near future”
All these interactions at the conference, in general, contributed to the event’s mission to strengthen the agenda of digital transformation in the legislative and legislative modernisation, promoting the exchange of experiences between the legislatures and stimulating the adoption and advancement of actions in this direction, and NovaWorks Australia, as part of the strategic partners of the conference, demonstrated its commitment to building an even stronger digital transformation agenda in the legislatures around the world.
According to Luís Kimaid, from Bússola Tech, “in times of normality, and in times of crisis, Parliaments must innovate. For that to happen there must be two dimensions that must be contemplated, the political leadership and boldness from Members of Parliament and the material and technical dimensions that enables or limits the possibilities for new technologies in the legislative institutions, and NovaWorks in Australia is a global leader”.
Furthermore, an audience of 63 countries were brought together in this event of more than 70 activities within 5 days of conference. This was a great opportunity to bring together the community engaged in the digital transformation and legislative modernization agenda in an environment that provided a great exchange of experiences and fostered insights into the present and the future of the legislative houses, demonstrating that these houses have similarities and uniqueness in their challenges and opportunities in the digital transformation agenda, and that cooperation is one of the fundamental keys for all to advance in their institutional modernization efforts.
