Embracing Digitalisation: A Decade of Progress in Modernising the Legislative Committees of the Assembleia Legislativa do Estado de Minas Gerais
About the Assembleia Legislativa de Minas Gerais | Brazil. Written on September, 2022
Introduction
In an era marked by rapid digitalisation, public institutions worldwide are reimagining their operations to enhance service delivery, governance, and citizen engagement. One such institution is the Assembleia Legislativa do Estado de Minas Gerais in Brazil, which has made significant strides in modernising its legislative committees over the past decade. This essay delves into the nuances of this transformative journey, focusing on three core pillars - effective information and data management, transparency, and the expansion of public participation.
Streamlining Information and Data Management
The first step in the modernisation process was to consolidate and systematise the vast and disparate data within the Assembleia's legislative committees. Until 2009, the Assembleia grappled with a lack of structured data, with legislative proposals, requests, and public hearing records scattered across non-centralised spreadsheets and systems. This fragmentation hampered the creation of comprehensive reports and made it challenging for legislators to track the progress of various requests and events.
To address this, the Assembleia initiated a robust data management strategy. The process involved creating a consistent database and establishing a monitoring system to track and manage legislative information. This allowed legislators to follow the trajectory of a particular proposal or public hearing, from the initial request to the ultimate response from the relevant agency. The new system also facilitated the categorisation of data by proposal author, committee, public policy, and theme. This strategic consolidation of data laid the foundation for the Assembleia's subsequent modernisation efforts.
Promoting Transparency
With a solid data management system in place, the Assembleia turned its attention to enhancing transparency. The institution operates 22 permanent committees, alongside various temporary ones, all of which conduct meetings essential to legislative deliberations. However, until recently, only one meeting could be broadcasted at a time, leaving the public with limited access to real-time legislative discussions.
To rectify this, the Assembleia developed a streaming system that allowed the broadcast of all committee meetings. This initiative empowered citizens to follow legislative discussions as they unfolded, fostering a culture of openness and transparency. Furthermore, these meetings were recorded and archived, ensuring that citizens could access them at any time.
Enhancing the Understanding of Meeting Proceedings
While the streaming of meetings significantly improved transparency, the Assembleia recognised that the complex proceedings could be challenging for the public and internal stakeholders to follow. To remedy this, a system was developed to digitally record the presence of deputies, control quorum, and manage the status of approved projects. This real-time tracking tool, displayed on monitors within meeting environments, helped legislators, staff, and the public keep track of meeting progress.
Fostering Public Participation
The Assembleia recognised that democracy thrives on active public participation. Therefore, in addition to making legislative meetings accessible to the public, the Assembleia created interactive meetings. This feature allowed citizens to follow meetings, ask questions, and provide suggestions in real time, enriching the legislative discourse.
The product of this decade-long modernisation journey is a robust, interactive platform where citizens can view meeting purposes, access journalists' explanatory materials, follow live meetings, and even review condensed 10-minute summaries of key discussions. The platform also provides access to guest presentations and information about meeting attendees, enhancing the transparency and depth of information available to citizens.
Conclusion
Over the past decade, the Assembleia Legislativa do Estado de Minas Gerais has made significant strides in modernising its legislative committees. Through effective data management, increased transparency, and fostering public participation, the Assembleia has transformed into a dynamic, digital-first institution. This transformation serves as a case study for other legislative bodies worldwide, demonstrating the potential of digitalisation in enhancing democratic processes and public service delivery.