Report to the People
Technology and the New Economy
"With our own Parliament, politics and politicians have never been more accessible." I have, if I am honest, uttered this phrase on more than one occasion. But, as we complete the first full year of the Scottish Parliament, it is perhaps useful to consider whether this statement stands up to scrutiny.
One of the main reasons for my belief is, obviously, the physical closeness of the Parliament itself. The other is the fact that, through rapid growth in technology, the physical location is becoming less and less important.
Two things last week underlined just how significant these technological advances have been.
On Monday, I visited St. Joseph’s primary school and saw 5 year-old children using a computer in the same casual manner as you or I would have coloured-in or made plasticine sausages.
Then, on Tuesday, I attended a speech on technology and the new economy given in the Talbot Rice Library of University of Edinburgh by the UK Minister for E-Commerce, Patricia Hewitt. The sheer scale of our progress in the past decade, to be frank, amazed me. To pick a single example, the Minister informed us that every book in the library in which we sat could be contained on a single DVD.
However, while the mind might boggle at such capabilities, how can it be used to bring Parliament closer to the people?
The most obvious example is e-mail. With Internet and e-mail access in libraries, community centres, school, colleges, universities, and cafes, the web is no longer the preserve of the wealthy enthusiast. Indeed, as a backbench MSP I receive around 100 emails every week.
Also, as I mentioned when we moved to Glasgow, we now have the ability to webcast the proceedings in Parliament live to any community in the world.
And, last week, Greenock made another Parliamentary first. The committee on which I sit, Enterprise & Lifelong Learning, announced it will stage the first ever "virtual" committee meeting outside the Parliament. The venue for this historic occasion will be none other than the IBM plant in Greenock and will allow committee members from throughout the country to take evidence from witnesses from throughout the world.
With your elected representatives only a few mouse clicks away; whole communities able to watch debates live from the chamber; and people from anywhere in the country able to give evidence to committees, the face of politics is undoubtedly changing. But does all this enhance our democracy? I suppose it’s for you to decide.
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