2005 Press Releases
Date: 8 March 2005
Objective selected by Office of the Clerk, NZ Parliament
Office of the Clerk to implement electronic select committee project
The New Zealand Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives has selected Objective Corporation to develop an information management system to support the select committee process.
Select committees provide support and advice to chairpersons and other members of Parliament on parliamentary procedure. It’s an information-intensive process, currently paper driven, with interested parties required to provide paper copies of their submissions and members of Parliament receiving large quantities of paper documents, including submissions, reports and correspondence.
“The project aims to streamline the process for everyone involved,” said Clerk-Assistant (Select Committees) Andrew Beattie. “Members of Parliament will be able to access documents for their committee electronically, while members of the public will be able to access publicly available select committee information via the internet.
“This will significantly reduce the number of paper copies involved and make the overall process a lot more efficient. It will also make public participation in the select committee process much easier.”
Objective will be piloted in production with two select committees for up to a year, prior to further roll-out.
“The select committee process is a key part of our Parliamentary system. We need to ensure that any information system to support select committees is thoroughly tested and completely secure, which is why we are planning an extensive pilot,” Mr Beattie said.
Objective Corporation was selected from five finalists out of 23 respondents to the Office of the Clerk’s Request for Expressions of Interest.
“The Office of the Clerk considered Objective’s system would provide the required functionality and be ‘user-friendly’. Given the wide range of people who will be using the system – from members of Parliament to government agencies, commercial organisations and the general public – it is essential that the system is easy for people to access and use,” Mr Beattie said.
Objective has experience with similar projects in the Australian and New Zealand public sector.
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About Office of the Clerk
The Office of the Clerk is the legislature's secretariat. It provides specialist advice and assistance on parliamentary law and procedures to the House of Representatives and its committees. It is one of a number of departments and offices of State associated with Parliament.
The Select Committees division provides support to select committees by preparing agendas, recording proceedings, researching and analysing information, and drafting reports. It also provides advice to chairpersons and other members of Parliament on parliamentary procedures.
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