Yesterday, Romana travelled to the Palace of Westminster for an Industry in Parliament Trust (IPT) Parliamentary Seminar. The IPT is an independent charity aiming to facilitate engagement between Parliament and UK business, and the seminar aimed to help academics understand how to engage parliament in their research.
The day started with a guided tour of the Parliamentary Estate, including Westminster Hall, the House of Commons’ Chamber, and the House of Lords’ Chamber.
After lunch, the seminar – led by training consultant and exp-MP Huw Edwards – started with an overview of the structure and role of parliament. This covered the work of the Houses of Commons and Lords, the legislative process, departments and select committees.
The seminar introduced ways that researchers could begin to integrate their research into parliament, including via: targeting parliamentary questions (delivered through MPs), following up with specific and relevant bills (e.g., the Digital Information and Smart Data bill), briefing through Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST), submitting evidence to enquiries made by select committees (e.g., Science Innovation and Technology), or by targeting policy briefings towards MPs in specialised All-Party Parliamentary Groups.
Once the session finished, Romana spent the afternoon watching the daily business in the House of Commons.
In all, the insights from the seminar will be invaluable for Romana and the rest of the Digital Footprints Lab, as we hope to more effectively engage Parliament with our research.