Geneva: Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) is organising an online event to discuss the findings and recommendations from the new World e-Parliament Report on Wednesday, 25 January 2023. IPU has invited the members of parliament and senior staff of members of organisation.
In a communication to the members Secretary General Martin Chungong said “ I am pleased to share the new World e-Parliament Report, which analyses changes in parliamentary working methods since the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the report shows that over half of parliaments (51%) have held a virtual plenary since March 2020 and more than three quarters (77%) a virtual committee meeting. Parliaments are now in the “immediate post-COVID” phase in which they are considering what features of hybrid working to retain and how to embed digital strategy into overall planning for the parliament.
Entitled Will hybrid working become the “new normal” for parliaments?, the central objective of this event is to investigate if, why and how hybrid working is becoming part of regular working practice in parliaments.
Parliamentarians will exchange perspectives on how hybrid working affects their work. They will consider how hybrid working impacts the legislative and oversight functions of parliament, and also to what extent hybrid working makes parliaments more modern, gender-sensitive and family-friendly workplaces. Participants will also share views on how to ensure the resilience of parliament in future emergencies.”
Concept note
Will hybrid working become the “new normal” for parliaments?
Context and rationale
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a period of “enforced innovation” in parliamentary working methods. Those parliaments that successfully innovated have dramatically changed how they function, embracing new technologies and remote working.
According to data from the new World e-Parliament Report, over half of parliaments (51%) have held a virtual plenary since March 2020 and more than three quarters (77%) a virtual committee meeting. Fortysix per cent intend to retain at least some virtual capabilities and it seems the virtual parliament will continue to evolve, particularly for committees. Eighty-seven per cent of the parliaments surveyed say they have increased their resilience.
The use of remote tools for committees had begun before the pandemic and has now accelerated dramatically. This trend is likely to continue to evolve, since these technologies offer benefits to parliaments with fewer of the downsides seen with virtual plenaries. Far from being temporary, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for change, leading to the potential for ongoing and incremental improvements in parliamentary functioning.
Hybrid working arrangements have had various impacts on the ways in which parliamentarians do their work. Some parliamentarians have pointed to the value of allowing MPs the chance to work from their constituencies instead of spending time commuting back and forth to the capital on a weekly basis. They note the benefits of flexibility for MPs with caring responsibilities, making comments such as: “I think we’ll get even better people [in parliament] if we can offer some flexibility”. Others have objected to the continuation of hybrid sittings because they felt this had made it harder to hold ministers to account.
Objectives
Parliaments are now in the “immediate post-COVID” phase, in which they are considering which features of hybrid working to retain and how to embed a digital strategy into their overall planning.
The central objective of this event is to investigate if, why and how hybrid working is becoming the “new normal” for parliaments. Participants will discuss the findings and recommendations of the World e-Parliament Report 2022.
Parliamentarians will exchange perspectives on how hybrid working affects their work. They will consider how hybrid working impacts the legislative and oversight functions of parliament, and also to what extent hybrid working makes parliaments more modern, gender-sensitive and family-friendly workplaces. Participants will also share views on how to ensure the resilience of parliament in future emergencies.
For full report following link can be download:
