Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento

18 - Improving citizens' access to parliamentary information

Brief description of the commitment: With the aim of facilitating citizens' access to legislative information and overcoming the barriers that hinder the search, understanding, and use of public parliamentary documents—such as laws, parliamentary business, committee reports, and parliamentary records—the development of a technological solution is proposed. This solution will allow users to explore legislative content intuitively, without requiring technical or legal knowledge, and will enable queries to be made in plain language. Based on these queries, the system will provide clear answers, accompanied by direct links to the corresponding official documents.

Implementing this solution will significantly contribute to improving access to parliamentary information, strengthening institutional transparency, citizen oversight, and informed participation in legislative processes.

Organization leading the commitment: Senate – Parliament.

Supporting institution/organization: Agency for Electronic Government and the Information and Knowledge Society (Agesic).

Person responsible for the commitment: Juan Pedro Lista, Director General of the Senate. Contact: jlista@parlamento.gub.uy.

Technical contact: Caterina Di Salvatore, IT Advisor to the Senate. Contact: cdisalvatore@parlamento.gub.uy.

Stakeholders

1. Government: Not applicable.
2. Civil Society: Center for Archives and Access to Public Information (CAinfo), Data Uruguay.
3. Other actors: Parliament, public and private universities.

Implementation period: September 2025 – June 2029.

Problem definition

What problem does the commitment intend to address?

The commitment seeks to address the barriers to comprehensible access to parliamentary information by the citizens. Although the Uruguayan Parliament boasts a high level of institutional and public transparency, a large number of legislative documents and resources are presented in formats that are difficult to navigate, with complex structures, technical language, and without tools that facilitate direct consultation by non-specialists.

The main group affected by this problem is the general public, especially those who wish to learn about parliamentary activity but lack technical or legal training. Journalists, students, social organizations, teachers, researchers, and anyone interested in exercising their right to access public information and actively participate in public affairs are also affected.

This problem occurs at national and international levels in digital access to the Uruguayan Parliament's web portal, as well as in the limited use given to legislative documents as a source of civic and political information.

People face difficulties finding, understanding, or using available parliamentary information. This limits their ability to follow the work of their representatives, evaluate legislative decisions, exercise citizen oversight, and participate in an informed manner.

These limitations become more visible during times of relevant legislative debates (for example, when controversial or budgetary laws are being discussed), as citizens cannot easily access key documents or the history of decisions.

The problem is not new; it has existed since Parliament began publishing digital information on its website. However, with the increasing volume of documents, institutional complexity, and the demands of a more connected and discerning citizenry, the need for more accessible and dynamic tools has become increasingly evident over the last 5 to 10 years.

What are the causes of the problem?

The problem has both immediate and structural causes. In the immediate sphere, parliamentary documents are published in formats that are not very interactive (such as PDFs or other open formats), without tools for direct consultation, and with technical language that hinders their understanding. Structurally, the portal's design reflects an institutional archiving logic, not the public's need for information. Although there are efforts to open data, these are not linked to solutions that facilitate its use. In short, there is access, but it is not usable: transparency is formal, but not effective. This directly impacts the right to be informed and to participate in public affairs.

Description of the commitment

What has been done so far to solve the problem?

The portal's structural design has been changed several times, but the problem persists. This indicates that cosmetic or superficial modifications have not been sufficient to address the root causes of the issue. More comprehensive solutions are needed that address technical, functional, and usability aspects, in addition to an analysis of user needs and the context in which the portal is used.

What solution does it propose?

To develop and implement a query system that allows users to ask questions in natural language and obtain direct answers or relevant documents quickly and accurately.

This differs from previous efforts that improved the structure or design, as it now incorporates mechanisms to better understand the intent of each user, improve semantic search, and offer more relevant results.

The solution will primarily address the difficulty of finding specific information in large volumes of documents, facilitating consultation and improving the user experience.

What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment?

By implementing this commitment, we want to achieve the following results:

• Changes in knowledge and capabilities: To improve the team's skills in the use of advanced search technologies and strengthen the culture of using open and accessible data.
• Changes in behaviors and practices: To encourage the regular use of the portal by citizens, journalists, academics and officials, establishing the habit of direct, reliable and efficient consultation of legislative documents.
• System changes: To modernize the portal's digital infrastructure, incorporating smart tools that better integrate data, improve user experience, and ensure interoperability.
• Measures to ensure continuity: To train internal teams, secure budget and technical support to maintain and adapt the platform in the long term. Furthermore, institutionalize the system as an official parliamentary consultation tool.

Commitment analysis

How will the commitment promote transparency?

This commitment will promote transparency by facilitating direct, clear, and efficient access to Parliament's public documents. By implementing a smart search system, users will be able to find relevant legislative information without requiring technical expertise or complex navigation.

This will allow citizens, journalists, civil society organizations, and academics to access key data on parliamentary documents with ease. By removing barriers to access and improving usability, the right to information is strengthened, encouraging a more informed and active participation.

How will the commitment help foster accountability?

This commitment will foster accountability by making clear, up-to-date, and accessible information about legislative activity available to the public. Facilitating access to key documents—such as bills, minutes, and stenographic records—will enable more effective public oversight.

How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? 

This commitment will improve citizen participation by opening a specific channel for people to access, understand, and use legislative information on their own terms. By facilitating the consultation and understanding of public documents, citizens will be able to engage in a more informed way in the debates and decisions that affect their daily lives.