In many countries around the world, citizens have embraced social media and new technology more rapidly than legislatures—which are, by their nature, often tradition-bound institutions. Helping elected leaders rethink approaches to citizen engagement in the digital age was a central theme of a 10-day parliamentary exchange on “Leadership in the Digital Economy” co-organized by NDI.

From Feb. 10-20, 20 members of parliament (MPs) from 11 countries met with members of Congress, congressional staff, policy experts and industry leaders in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Silicon Valley to explore how elected officials can use technology more effectively to engage their constituents and promote open government.

Bringing governments into the 21st century involves strengthening policies on transparency, digital security and citizen participation. The delegation met with policy experts in each of these fields, as well as engaged with young civic innovators who are rethinking citizen engagement in governance. The delegation met with the founders of platforms such as PopVOX, 4PIA  and Organizer, which use technology to improve interaction among citizens and elected officials and candidates, as well as help elected officials respond to citizen concerns. The delegation also met with Code for America, which helps governments use technology to make “government services simple, effective and easy to use.”

While in Washington, the participants met with board members from the Institute for Representative Government (IRG)—an organization of former members of Congress that facilitates exchange programs, whose partnership made the program possible.  They also met with Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), ranking member of the House Democracy Partnership (HDP); Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV); and representatives from the Open Government Partnership, Google and 18F, an organization in the U.S. General Services Administration helping to build a 21st century digital government.  

Also in Washington, the delegation held a public event at 1776, a global incubator and seed fund that believes that startups can change the world, featuring Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda, deputy assistant secretary of state and U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy. Additional public events were held at The Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, CA, and at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. The later event will be broadcast on Friday, March 20, at 8 p.m. on KQED Radio in San Francisco (88.5 FM) and on over 230 radio stations around the country; it also can be heard as a podcast. 

The program also focused on how technology can strengthen women’s political leadership and help elected leaders connect with women, youth and marginalized groups.  GenderAvenger and Spark focus on increasing engagement of women and girls in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The parliamentary exchange kicked off with remarks by Kelly Keiderling, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs. Keiderling emphasized that technology is the best way to engage youth, who she said are essential to creating “enduring solutions.” 

Hon. Donika Kadaj-Bujupi, a participant from Kosovo, was inspired by the program’s emphasis on engaging youth. “Kosovo is known for having the youngest population in Europe,” she said, noting her desire to apply some of the concrete practices and ideas from the program to help youth engage more effectively with government to improve people’s lives.   

Members of parliament from Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Nepal, Peru, Serbia and Tunisia participated in the program. Given the interest in the program, several partner parliaments funded additional participants in the program.  

Participants met with officials in the the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation (SICP) at the White House, which develops policies and programs that support the social sector to, among other things, accelerate economic recovery and create stronger communities. President Obama created SICP in early 2009 based on the idea that lasting change is often best supported, not by top-down programs from Washington, but by cultivating  bottom up practices in cities and towns across the country where ordinary people already are coming together to solve tough problems.  

During the  Silicon Valley portion of the mission,  participants met with industry leaders in technological innovation. These events provided MPs with the opportunity to link social issues with technological solutions. Hon. Emmanuel Bedzrah of Ghana said that many of his  legislative colleagues use text messaging to reach constituents. But many women in Ghana are illiterate and cannot read the texts. Effective leadership in today’s digital economy, he said, requires MPs to adapt to technology that suits constituent needs, such as tools based on video or audio, in addition to text-based apps.

“Men are law makers and women are law takers. That is how it has been for 2000 years and women don’t like it” said the Serbian Deputy Speaker Gordana Comic. Comic also noted that women and men interact with information and technology in different ways, and emphasized the importance of integrating technology into politics that takes into account gender differences. According to Comic, taking these factors into account can “change the dialogue” and improve the ways in which“rules are made and taken.”

Participants also met with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Jay Nath, the chief innovation officer for the City and County of San Francisco—the first such position for a major city. Nath helped to establish the nation’s first open-source government software policy and as well as San Francisco’s Open Data Legislation, governing data created and maintained by the city. 

The mission included a visit to the headquarters of Facebook, where Marne Levine, the chief operating officer of Instagram, addressed the impact of social media use in various political environments. 

The program was made possible through the generous support and partnership with the Institute for Representative Government, in cooperation with the House Democracy Partnership of the U.S. House of Representatives. The mission was supported by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Read more:

• Parliamentary Staff Visit Focuses on the Work of Legislative Committees
• Maturing Democracies Share Experiences on Parliamentary Research Services
• NDI supports House Democracy Partnership in sharing good practice
• Representatives of nine legislatures take part in Washington program to improve parliamentary research and administration

View photos from the recent parliamentary exchange on “Leadership in the Digital Economy”

Published on March 5, 2015