ALOR STAR: The digital transformation of parliament and state legislative assembly sessions is imperative in managing costs and improving the performance of elected representatives.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said this will be a key focus in the upcoming 2024 Conference of Speakers of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies of Malaysia in Kuching from Sept 11 to 14.

He said Dewan Rakyat had begun its digitalisation process in its previous session, emulating advanced systems adopted in Kedah and Selangor state legislative assemblies.

"Times have changed. We must embrace the digital approach and move forward with necessary reforms.

"For instance, the Kedah legislative assembly has advanced significantly in its digital system, and this experience can be shared with the other states," he said after visiting the Kedah state assembly at Wisma Darul Aman today (Aug 7).

Present was Kedah Speaker Zubir Ahmad.

Johari said the hefty investment by Kedah and Selangor in the digitalisation initiative has borne fruit, with improved performances seen in their respective state legislative assemblies.

"From my visit to several states, I noticed that Kedah and Selangor have the most advanced digital systems, which have resolved many issues.

"This approach is more practical, since pressing issues can arise just a day before parliament or state legislative assembly sessions."

Meanwhile, Zubir said various matters were discussed today in the run-up to the speaker's conference.

"We will discuss key issues, including digitalisation. We cannot fall behind in this challenging world. Our focus will be on enhancing the systems used in state legislative assemblies to align them with those used in parliament."

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/08/1088083/parliament-state-assembly-digitalisation-improve-reps-performance