Lightning Talk by Edward Wood (UK Parliament) at the We're Not In Westminster Any More event held at The Media Centre in Huddersfield on Saturday 7th February 2015. This event was for everyone who has something positive to say about local democracy and for anyone who is up for a challenge.

1. #notwestminster, 07/02/15
Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira,
Digital Democracy Commissioner
Edward Wood, Secretary to the Commission
Report: www.digitaldemocracy.parliament.uk
Twitter: @digidemocracyuk
Facebook: facebook.com/DigitalDemocracyCommissionUK
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/groups/Digital-Democracy-Commission
Email: woode@parliament.uk
Digital Democracy Commission

2. About the Commission
• The Commission was set up by the Speaker of the UK House of
Commons to consider the implications of the digital revolution
for democracy
• In a speech to the think tank Policy Exchange in June 2014, he
explained that:
“In 21st century Britain there is an expectation of openness, a
need for flexibility and a greater understanding that people, the
‘consumers of democracy’, use and do not use modern
technology in a manner that suits them”
• The Commission invited ideas and information in any format and
heard from a wide range of people and organisations across the
UK

3. What are the aims of the Commission?
The Commission set out to consult, consider, report and make
recommendations on how Parliamentary democracy can embrace
digital technology to become more effective in:
• Representing the people
• Making laws
• Scrutiny
• Encouraging citizens to engage with democracy
• Facilitating dialogue amongst citizens

4. Who are the Commissioners?
• Rt. Hon John Bercow MP (the Speaker of the House of Commons)
• Robert Halfon MP (Member of Parliament of Harlow)
• Meg Hillier MP (Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch)
• Paul Kane (President of Community DNS)
• Helen Milner (Chief Executive of the Tinder Foundation)
• Cristina Leston-Bandeira (Professor of Politics, Hull)
• Emma Mulqueeny (founder, Rewired State)
• Femi Oyeniran (actor/filmmaker)
• Toni Pearce (President of the NUS)

5. Commission activities
• Involved students from across the UK via student forums and a
competition organised by the Political Studies Association
• Conducted 23 roundtable discussions with different groups
• Consulted and forged links with other legislatures around the
world – for example at the World e-Parliament conference and
the Legislative Openness Working Group
• Worked with a number of universities including Swansea,
Sheffield, Newcastle, UCL

6. Recurring themes
In the submissions received a number of recurring themes
emerged:
• Digital tools can enhance democratic processes, but
cannot fix any problems there may be within those
processes. The systems they are built on have to be robust and
well-designed.
• Go where people are, don’t expect them to come to you

7. Recurring themes (2)
• A key way for Parliament or other political institutions to
connect with the public is through the issues that people
are interested in. This may mean seeking out relevant interest
groups online and making connections with them.
• Making sense of mass digital communications: social
media, digital forums and crowdsourcing tools can be a useful
means of increasing engagement between the public, institutions
and politicians. However, if they are to be used on a large scale,
we will need a means of digesting the various views expressed
and presenting them in a way that can be of practical use.

9. Ensuring everyone can understand…
• Communications strategy to increase understanding and
engagement, identifying what works
• Simplify communications and technical language
• Counter digital exclusion
• New ways to engage groups with low participation rates eg
young people

10. A fully interactive and digital Parliament
• Identify more services where a digital first approach would
increase efficiency and effectiveness
• Skills for a digital parliament
• Crowd-sourcing questions for Ministers
• A new online forum to participate in debates
• Tools to help MPs’ communications with constituents

11. Elections
• Online voting as an option for all by 2020
• Better information for voters (including Voter Assistance Apps)

12. Thank you for listening
Report: www.digitaldemocracy.parliament.uk
Twitter: @digidemocracyuk
Facebook: facebook.com/DigitalDemocracyCommissionUK
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/groups/Digital-Democracy-Commission
Email: woode@parliament.uk