The National Assembly of Guyana will be introducing its newly revamped website and live streaming of all National Assembly sittings on Thursday, as it incorporates the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to ensure that its work is transparent, accountable and effective.
In a press statement, the Parliamentary Office said the new website, the Paperless Parliament Pilot Project and the live streaming will be launched at 1pm in the Parliament Chambers.
The website is being designed by Consultant Cirrus Multi-media and will include a media centre, a searchable database of committee reports, records, hearings, votes and other parliamentary documents pertaining to the current Parliament; searchable database of legislative acts, bills, documents laid, resolutions, motions, notice papers, questions and answers, minutes of the National Assembly, subsidiary legislation, petitions and other parliamentary documents.
It will also feature a special section on budget and financial legislation; an overview of the composition and functions of the National Assembly, including a description of the specific role of the parliamentary chamber and non-plenary bodies (committees, commissions) a guided virtual tour of the Parliamentary building, practical information on access to the Parliamentary building, and Parliamentary library; pictures and contact information for all Members of Parliament; summary or complete records of parliamentary debates and audio and video web telecasting of Parliamentary sittings.
Live streaming, E-project
The multimillion-dollar initiative to stream all sittings of the National Assembly came about via a partnership between the Parliament Office and the Canadian Government through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. This Fund supports and implements projects across the globe in partnership with local, national and international organisations, educational institutions and local governments. In February, the Office signed a MoU which saw the Canadian Government providing for the funding of this project.
The Parliament Office will also run a pilot project for four months in which the Speaker and a select group of parliamentarians and members of staff will commit to share all information electronically. While this is being done, the Office will commit to conducting a study of the amount of paper and financial and other resources that will be saved and inform MPs about the benefits of sharing information electronically.
During the pilot, all members involved will report regularly to a designated officer who will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the project and preparing regular reports for sharing with the Parliamentary Management Committee and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). To facilitate this project the Parliament Office had in December received 15 Samsung Galaxy Tab3s, five Dell OptiPlex desktop computers and one Dell laptop computer UNDP, the press statement said.
The Parliament Office also noted that the website being launched is a beta version that it a work in process with ongoing work and changes being made.
