The Hub is working on establishing a dissemination and motivation strategy for the participation of Spanish-speaking Latin American parliaments, which is to result in the realization of a regional meeting (to be announced) to share experiences, in addition to analyzing and evaluating the Hispanophone Hub among regional peers.

The main functionalities of the Hub's online web portal have been defined. This will enable the publication of applications/software and good IT practices. User subscriptions have been added to distribute filtered information according to user profiles; and the beta version has been published on cip.camara.cl. Next steps include the finalization of the platform development and testing; collection of applications and information systems provided by the Chamber of Deputies of Chile to incorporate them into the new site - as part of the Hub’s vision to share information on ICT projects and solutions.

A regional seminar, jointly organized by the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago and the IPU, on achieving the sustainable development goals for the parliaments in the Caribbean region was held on 5 and 6 December 2019. The seminar saw the participation of members of the parliaments of Barbados, Cuba, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Innovation in parliament was discussed as one of the key enablers for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The seminar participants expressed commitment to continually strive to make parliaments more effective, accountable and transparent institutions, through the development of innovative approaches, including through digital technologies. They recognized the need to make creative use of the limited resources available, including by enhancing cooperation between Caribbean parliaments, and welcomed the initiative of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago to establish a Caribbean regional hub within the IPU’s Centre for Innovation in Parliament to further these aims.

The Parliament of Kenya established a regional office to coordinate the East African Hub activities. As part of the activities, it is also trialing a voice and video IP connection solution, to allow cost effective communication between Hub members.

The Hub convened the secretaries general of parliaments at the 141^st IPU Assembly in Belgrade to discuss, among others, the first East African Hub regional meeting on promoting innovations within regional parliaments and beyond. During the meeting, the Parliament of Kenya shared information and material about its eParlKenya app as a paperless solution. At the East Africa secretaries general meeting, held from 5 to 10 December 2019 in Uganda, a resolution was adopted endorsing further inter-parliamentary cooperation in the context of the Hub.

The Hub’s Steering Committee, composed of secretaries general and clerks, met at the 141^st IPU Assembly in Belgrade. It decided to meet twice a year during the IPU Assemblies. The next meeting will be held in the first quarter of 2020 to approve the work plan. A second meeting will be convened in the fourth quarter to discuss the Hub’s progress and make decisions or approvals as might be required. An ICT strategic planning mission to the National Assembly of Botswana (27-31 January 2020) was supported by the National Assembly of Mauritius, National Assembly of Zambia, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Preparations for the mission included establishing a methodology for ICT strategic planning which could serve as a blueprint for similar future activity. The Secretariat of the Southern Africa Development Community – Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) also requested the Hub to assist with the development of an ICT strategy and (re)design of its website.

Image: The mission team of the Southern Africa Regional Hub represented by the National Assembly of Zambia, and Parliament of Mauritius, visits the Parliament of Botswana to assist the latter in the preparation of its ICT strategic plan. © Michael Mukuka