Digital Transformation of Oireachtas: Navigating the Cloud and Beyond
About the Oireachtas of Ireland. Written on September, 2021
Introduction
The digital revolution is driving transformative changes in all sectors globally, and the public sector is no exception. In Ireland, the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) has embarked on a significant digital transformation journey over the past 15 to 20 years. This article will analyse their efforts, focusing on their adoption of cloud technologies, security measures, envisaged digital strategy, including e-voting, and the potential utilisation of blockchain technologies.
The Cloud-First Approach
The Oireachtas's digital transformation journey began in earnest in 2016 with the adoption of key principles, one of which was a "cloud-first" approach. Initially, Ireland was slow to adopt cloud technology. The government's Office of the Chief Information Officer initially issued a lukewarm advisory note to governmental departments, advising them to exercise caution if opting to transition to the cloud.
However, this stance underwent a significant shift in 2019 when the government strongly encouraged all departments to move to the cloud. By this time, the Oireachtas had already made considerable strides, having transitioned to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure. They recognised the immense potential that cloud services offered, allowing them to leverage a variety of technologies and pivot as needed.
Cloud Technology and Security
Despite the initial hesitancy about cloud technologies, the Oireachtas managed to effectively navigate the cloud space and even embrace new capabilities such as automatic speech recognition, facial recognition, and SMTP services. The predominance of open data in the parliamentary context facilitated a smooth and secure transition to the cloud. Despite the recent major cyberattack on Ireland's health service, the Oireachtas remains confident in its ability to manage and secure its data more effectively in the cloud than with on-premise systems.
However, this confidence is tempered by the need to navigate the potential conflict between regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and American acts such as the Patriot Act and the Cloud Act. To address these concerns, the Oireachtas has engaged with Microsoft to ensure that all data can be securely moved to the cloud.
The Evolution of E-voting
In addition to its significant strides in cloud adoption, the Oireachtas has also been proactive in the area of e-voting. Inspired by the innovations in Spain and Brazil, the Irish Parliament has sought to modernise its voting procedures. Although the Irish constitution initially precluded the adoption of e-voting (requiring parliamentarians to be physically present to cast their vote), recent approval for digital voting has led to the development of an app for voting. This change has been largely driven by the need to future-proof parliamentary procedures and enable secure voting both within and outside of parliamentary premises.
Blockchain and Legislation
Beyond the implementation of e-voting and cloud technology, the Oireachtas is also exploring the potential of blockchain technology. With its innate ability to provide a secure and tamper-proof ledger, blockchain is an excellent fit for managing and tracking legislation. Although this is an area still in the exploratory stages, collaborations with Microsoft are already underway to trial a ledger-based system in Australia for e-tabling and E-divisions among other applications.
Conclusion
In an era characterised by rapid digital advancement, the Oireachtas's journey of digital transformation provides a compelling case study. Through the adoption of a "cloud-first" approach, the development of an e-voting app, and the exploration of blockchain technology, the Irish Parliament has demonstrated an understanding of the transformative potential of digital technologies. Nevertheless, these advances also underscore the importance of managing potential conflicts between data security, privacy regulations and the adoption of foreign cloud technologies. The Oireachtas's ongoing digital transformation serves as a reminder that while the digital landscape presents numerous opportunities, careful navigation and adherence to a well-crafted strategy are critical to success.