A NUMBER of jurisdictions are interested in using the automatic parliamentary voice recognition technology used in the Isle of Man.
The 41st conference of the British Islands and Mediterranean Region (BIMR) of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held last month gave representatives from around the world the chance to see the technology.
The conference, which took place at the Villa Marina, was attended by 50 delegates from jurisdictions that included the Channel Islands, Gibraltar, Cyprus, St Helena and the Falkland Islands, together with representatives from the parliaments of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Westminster.
Launched in October 2008, the system used by Tynwald represents a world first for the Isle of Man in that the speech recognition software MultiSpeak, developed in Australia, has been customised to accommodate 40 voices into a single-channel feed.
The bespoke software was demonstrated to delegates at the BIMR conference.
Chair of the Isle of Man branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Clare Christian MLC said: "From a democratic perspective the technology provides the public with speedy access to what politicians are saying.
"Attendees found the demonstrations of our voice recognition technology extremely interesting and were impressed by the speed with which a text version of proceedings was produced.
"It was encouraging that the Isle of Man was seen at the forefront of this transcription technology and I understand representatives from a number of jurisdictions, having witnessed how the technology works, are looking to follow the Isle of Man’s lead."
Senior Hansard editor Ian Faulds said: "Feedback from delegates was very positive and we’re now in discussions with representatives from a number of jurisdictions who have expressed an interest in using the system we operate.
"For our part, we are hoping to roll out the system to the third and final chamber, that of the Legislative Council, in October, following a number of on-site minor adaptations that need to be made.
"This is highly bespoke software geared to our specific requirements that can be exponentially upgraded. So far, since the system went live in 2008, we have made savings of more than ?40,000, achieved largely through reduced manual transcription costs.
"These savings are anticipated soon to exceed the total cost of the specialist software and associated hardware."
Mr Faulds added that such is the ground-breaking nature of the technology a member of Tynwald’s Hansard team is to deliver a paper on the system to the British-Irish Parliamentary Reporting Association in Dublin in July.
And in August Mr Faulds will be giving a presentation on Tynwald’s use of automatic transcription technology at the Hansard Association of Canada conference in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
