Rationale
The APKN Conference on “Open and Learning Parliaments” is a joint initiative of Pan African Parliament and United Nations ''Africa i-Parliament Action Plan'', meant to explore with specific reference to the African context the broad array issues and challenges and opportunities that African parliaments have to face in order to enhance their capacity to utilize ICT to better meet their legislative, oversight, and representational responsibilities.
To become open and learning parliaments African Parliaments need to find means and ways to collaborate amongst themselves and learn from each other, and they also need to contribute meaningfully to the regional integration agenda through regional and continental parliamentary organisations. The Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network(APKN) provides both the platform and opportunity for parliaments to collaborate effectively. As an organisation established by parliaments it focuses on issues that parliaments themselves find useful and contemporary.
The World e-Parliament Conferences organised by the Global for ICT in Parliament annually has contributed in significant ways to improving the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in parliaments around the world by sharing world wide cases of effective utilisation of ICTs to enhance Parliamentary performance.
The utilisation of ICTs has proved very effective in increasing collaboration and inter parliamentary cooperation. To be effective ICTs need to be strategically positioned to facilitate the traditional and upcoming roles of Parliaments. The conference will thus focus on ICTs as a cross cutting theme to ensuring openness and learning in parliaments.
The Conference also hopes to strengthen collaborative efforts between APKN, PAP, national and regional parliaments and other parliamentary networks such as the Association of Secretary Generals and how each of the organisations can contribute meaningfully to ensuring that parliaments indeed become open and learning organisations to increase their efficiency and effectiveness.
The Conference will also act as a preparatory meeting for the APKN Plenary scheduled for October 2010. It is meant to provide an opportunity for Secretary Generals/Clerks of Parliaments to gain a deeper understanding of the role and goals of APKN and begin identify the issues and activities that may eventually become part of the APKN Strategic Workplan that will have to be presented for endorsement at the APKN Plenary in October 2010.
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