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Open Parliaments:
How New Technologies
Are Changing Their Organisation -
The Hellenic Parliament case study
Dr.-Ing. Dipl.Wirt.-Ing. Fotios Fitsilis
Rome, 3.10.2016
THE TRANSFORMATION OF PARLIAMENTARY
ORGANISATION BY TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
Conference
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Structure of presentation
 Motivation
 Parliamentary Administration
 Integrated IT System
 Description of landmark apps
 Discussion and outlook
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Internal
organisation
Procedures
Motivation: Impact of technology
innovation on Parliaments
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Hellenic Parliament
organisation chart*
Speaker
Scientific
Service
Secretary
General
GD Parliamentary
work
GD International
Relations &
Communication
GD
Administrative
Support
GD Electronic
Governance,
Library and
Publications
GD: General Directorate
* Strongly simplified version
scientific oversight
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Eco-system of software applications
supporting most parliamentary operations:
administrative/financial/document management
 Functional sectors (7); Apps (25)
 Client - server architecture
 >500 users in 9 buildings
 Data volume >2 ΤΒ (2013)
 Supports digital signature and work flows
 Handles several types of formatted data
(+multimedia)
 Database RDBMS Oracle ver.9i
 SW Development: PAPYRUS DMS, VB, .Net,
Crystal Reports, C++, PHP, Java
Integrated IT System of the
Hellenic Parliament: specs
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Integrated IT System of the
Hellenic Parliament: infrastructure
Servers: RISC-cluster in high-availability configuration
Storage system: SAN (Storage Area Network) Disk Array
with RAID5 architecture
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Web app integration
Source: https://intra.parliament.gr/
Based on MS SharePoint®: web application; highly
configurable document management and storage system 7

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Electronic Signature
 Web banking-like security features
 Digital authentication via:
user name + password
authenticator app or token
 Central user database
 certificate issued via HERMES
www.ermis.gov.gr
 Sign public documents via
 Web: https://sign.parliament.gr/ or
 MS Word CoSign Signature API (SAPI®)
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Electronic Signature: web app
Source: https://sign.parliament.gr
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Parliamentary Transparency web app
Source: http://diafaneia.hellenicparliament.gr/
 Public access to high-level
administrative decisions
 According to open data APIs
 Since 2014
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Collaboration web app
Source: http://collaboration.parliament.gr/
App for MPs and staff: Circulation and exchange
of parliamentary documents and multi-media
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The PAPYRUS database
Data Entry and Collection Document Management Search functions
Data Sharing Document Monitoring Case Management
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PAPYRUS web-interface:
parliamentary control
Source: http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/Koinovouleftikos-
Elenchos/Mesa-Koinovouleutikou-Elegxou
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PAPYRUS web-interface:
legislative procedure
Source: http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/Nomothetiko-
Ergo/Anazitisi-Nomothetikou-Ergou 14

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Discussion: New Technologies
 Do Parliaments neglect using new technologies?
…rather postpone implementation of established ones
 Transformation of parliamentary organisation
 Speed-up of administrative processes
…no file “misplacements” or long distribution paths
 Access to information (internal and external)
 Data analytics: efficiency of administrative processes
 Knowledge management and preservation
Responsibility of Scientific/Research Services to inform
leadership and MPs on technological evolution
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Discussion: Open Data
 Open Data
 Open Data Foundation (ODaF)* guidelines
 Widely accepted standards (SDMX, DDI, Dublin
Core, ISO 11179)
 Participation in national initiatives and
workgroups
 Cooperation with relevant public bodies, e.g.
National Documentation Center (EDC)+
Limits to openness: targeted anonymization, full
transparency only for high-level or political personnel
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*ODaF: http://www.opendatafoundation.org/
+EDC: http://www.ekt.gr/en

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Outlook
Contemporary and future projects:
 Big data
 Open data
 Internet of Things and
 New trends in digital democracy
Better user interface for increased user
adaptation
Stronger leadership engagement
transition to “smart Parliaments”
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State-of-art: HeP FP7 research
projects on public engagement
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HeP: Hellenic Parliament
FP7: Seventh Framework Programme
 Simulation of policy making processes in
virtual spaces; discussion of draft laws
and measurement of public feedback
 Technologies for “smart” collection of
content in social networks
 Cooperation platform for preparation of
policy decisions; monitoring of policy
processes; exchange of information and
collection of feedback
 Web platform for public discussion on
draft laws

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Online information on
parliamentary research projects
• LEXIS, https://www.uni-koblenz-
landau.de/en/campus-
koblenz/fb4/iwvi/agvinf/projects/completedprojects
/lex-is
• +Spaces,
https://www.research.ibm.com/haifa/projects/imt/s
ocial/spaces.shtml
• NOMAD, http://www.nomad-project.eu/
• ARCOMEM,
http://internetmemory.org/en/index.php/projects/a
rcomem1
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Thank you!
fitsilisf@parliament.gr
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