Culture, design and filter bubbles: looking back at #FutureParliament

Blog

Culture, design and filter bubbles: looking back at #FutureParliament

21 Nov 2016

To mark Parliament Week – a programme of activities connecting people across the UK with the Westminster Parliament – the Hansard Society hosted a half-day event to look at the problems with the legislative process, and how technology might help solve them.

Adam Dyster,
Events Manager, Sense4us, Hansard Society

Get our latest research, insights and events delivered to your inbox

Share this and support our work

The latest in our Future Parliament series of research and events, it also looked at how Westminster could best use the rupture of being uprooted from the Palace to drive innovation, including trialing new technology.

Capacity, Scrutiny and Engagement: Challenges and Opportunities

Our first panel looked at the current challenges to the legislative process within Parliament, and those areas where technology might be of greatest use, drawing on the Society's involvement in the mutli-national EU funded Sense4us technology research project.

Dr Ruth Fox, Director of the Hansard Society, chaired a discussion with Emma Allen, Director of Digital Development, Parliament Digital Service; Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow; and Liam Laurence Smyth, Clerk of Legislation in the House of Commons.

Changing culture

All the panelists raised culture change as a major issue for Parliament and technology - whether encouraging people to get involved with legislation, or moving beyond mass-email point-and-click campaigns.

Education

Education was also a clear factor for both the panelists and audience, helping the public understand both what Parliament does and decoding the language it uses.

Opportunities for improvement

With the challenges laid out, it was clear that technology could help improve the process.

Sense4us

With a break for refreshments, the audience was able to learn more about Sense4us, a multi-national technology research project funded by the European Commission to develop new information discovery tools for policy-makers and researchers. The Sense4us toolset includes new tools to support text analysis, social media search and sentiment, linked open data search, and dynamic policy model simulations.

Parliament as an innovation lab: Restoration and Renewal... and beyond

Our second panel looked more closely at the future of Parliament - and the potential opportunities for innovation across the Restoration and Renewal programme.

With MPs and Peers due to move out of the Palace into alternative locations in the Westminster area for a few years, could these temporary new Houses be turned into parliamentary laboratories to trial and test new digital technology?

BBC journalist and technology critic Bill Thompson chaired the discussion with Victoria Boelman, Principal Researcher in Government Innovation, Nesta; Elizabeth Linder, Founder of the Conversational Century; Rebecca Rumbul, Head of Research, mySociety; and Paul Walland, Director of Innovation at the IT Innovation Centre, University of Southampton, and co-ordinator of the Sense4us project.

Experimental design?

Regardless of what technologies Parliament might test, the panel was clear that any temporary building presents a chance to be bold and less risk-averse, especially when it comes to space and design.

No silver bullet

Closing the event, it was clear that any technological 'solutions' would need to be considered carefully. From online echo chambers to the digital divide, innovation is just one tool at Parliament's disposal.

Sense4us is a project funded from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (contract number 611242)

Latest / Highlights

News / Parliament Matters Bulletin: What’s coming up in Parliament this week? 27-31 October 2025

The Attorney General, the Chief Secretary to the PM and the Head of the Crown Prosecution Service will face questions after the collapse of the China spying case. Nigel Farage plans to introduce a Bill to withdraw from the ECHR. MPs will question Yvette Cooper and Pat McFadden, and debate property service charges and end-of-life care. The Conservatives will choose Tuesday’s Opposition Day topic. In the Lords, Peers will debate Ukraine and hear from the Justice Minister and hospice and care sector representatives on the assisted dying bill. The Victims and Courts Bill and the Sentencing Bill have their final Commons stages, while in the Lords the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the Employment Rights Bill face further scrutiny.

News / Parliament vs. Prince Andrew - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 111

This week, we explore how far Parliament can go in holding members of the Royal Family to account, as pressure grows for MPs to scrutinise Prince Andrew’s finances and royal titles. We ask whether Nigel Farage should get a right of reply at Prime Minister’s Questions amid his growing prominence, and examine Labour’s reshuffle of select committee posts and calls for greater transparency in how they’re filled. Plus, a look back at the rebuilding of the House of Commons Chamber, 75 years after its postwar reopening. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

News / Parliament’s spying scandal: Why was the China case dropped? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 110

It’s been a tumultuous week in Westminster, with three ministerial statements on the China spying case and fresh questions about the collapse of charges against two alleged spies. We are joined by Cambridge public law expert Professor Mark Elliott to untangle the legal and political fallout, from espionage claims inside MPs’ offices to confusion over whether China was ever designated an “enemy state.” We also explore looming government challenges — the Budget, Afghan data leak, local election setbacks — and the membership of the new Select Committee to consider the assisted dying legislation in the House of Lords. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

Briefings / Assisted dying - The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Rolling news

Stay informed with updates and analysis on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill as it moves through Parliament. Learn about the debates, procedures, decisions, and key milestones shaping the assisted dying legislation.

News / What are the Usual Channels? A short history of Westminster whipping - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 108

In this episode, we talk to political journalist Seb Whale about his new book, The Usual Channels, which reveals the hidden world of Westminster’s whips. Seb charts how party discipline has evolved – from the stormy politics of the 1970s and the Maastricht battles of the 1990s to the legendary “black book,” the Brexit showdowns and the short-lived Liz Truss premiership. He explains how the whips’ office has adapted to a modern Parliament – especially with the influx of women MPs – and why, even today, whips still wield decisive influence over MPs’ careers and remain indispensable despite the pressures of contemporary politics. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.