International Convening Highlights AI Governance
Plus, an AFRIPAL preview, the latest on AI, upcoming events, and more!
Note: ModParl was created to help lawmakers and staffers in legislatures around the world learn from each other and stay informed about how others are approaching AI and modernization topics. Coverage does not indicate endorsement.
The “BRICS” organization was originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010, and the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates in 2024–2025. The group is often positioned as a counter to Western-led institutions.
At the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Brasília June 3–5, legislators convened under the banner of strengthening democracy, advancing sustainable development, and addressing global challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI) dominated the agenda, with delegates calling for legislatures to play a central role in shaping innovation policy and guarding against the misuse of new technologies.
The rhetoric was ambitious: members emphasized the need for ethical AI frameworks grounded in transparency, accountability, and data sovereignty—often framed in opposition to Western norms. In a session on "Cooperation for a Responsible and Inclusive Artificial Intelligence," Brazilian Chamber President Hugo Motta cautioned against BRICS countries becoming “passive consumers” of technologies governed by external standards. The newly formed BRICS International AI Alliance was presented as an early step toward building a coordinated, non-Western approach to AI governance.
The forum’s final declaration called for greater interparliamentary collaboration to regulate AI developers and close digital divides. Delegates also portrayed AI as a political and ethical challenge that demands democratic oversight—a message that resonates more strongly in some BRICS countries than others, given varied records on transparency and civil liberties.
AFRIPAL Preview
The organizers of the 1st African Parliaments Conference (AFRIPAL) June 18–20, 2025 in Kampala have provided a series of video interviews with participants to set the stage for the conversation to come, including:
An event preview by Makerere University Lecturer, John Mushomi
A discussion on transforming African parliaments by Dr. Hannah Muzee
A reflection on the role of parliaments in government oversight, by Clerk to the Scottish Parliament, Stephen Imrie
And a deep dive on AI in parliaments, by our POPVOX Foundation Executive Director, Marci Harris
Harris argued that AI offers more than efficiency—it provides a chance for African parliaments to leapfrog outdated systems and reimagine lawmaking itself. Drawing on examples like POPVOX Foundation’s StaffLink and the UNDP’s digital government framework, she outlined how civil society and parliaments can collaboratively pilot AI tools to build transparency, resilience, and smarter governance.
The Latest on AI
For Noema Magazine, Blaise Agüera y Arcas and James Manyika argue that AI is reshaping how we define intelligence, suggesting it emerges not just in humans but across biological and artificial systems.
Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies is exploring how AI can reshape legislative work. In the Chamber’s TV station, Patrícia Almeida, Head of Digital Innovation, discusses the promises and challenges of AI in parliaments, drawing on her role coordinating the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s AI guidelines (in Portuguese).
The UK government has launched an AI system named “Humphrey” to automate the review of public consultations, with its first live test conducted by the Scottish Government.
Mendoza has become the first province in Argentina's interior to open an institutional space for debating how to incorporate artificial intelligence into legislative work.
And the Hellenic Parliament has become the first public institution to power Greece’s new “Pharos” AI Factory, transforming nearly 200 years of legislative history into an intelligent, searchable digital archive.
Other Resources
UN Today, the UN’s official magazine, recapped the origins of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), founded in 1889 to promote peace not through military force, but through dialogue and cooperation among parliamentarians.
A new report by the UK Parliament POST explores trust and public engagement in the UK parliament. The report is timely as between 2014 and 2024, the proportion of people with low to no trust in MPs rose from 54% to 76%.
Since 2017, the Scottish Parliament has been working to embed deliberative democracy into its practices. This timeline brings together key reports, evaluations, and outputs that document the Parliament’s journey.
New Zealand has launched a public demo of its redesigned legislation website, featuring a pilot tool that allows users to search over 7,000 items of secondary legislation from various agencies.
Special Shoutout
Marking 20 years of TheyWorkForYou, mySociety recently launched TheyWorkForYou Votes, a powerful new platform that makes UK parliamentary decisions easier to analyze, track, and understand. Congratulations to TheyWorkForYou on 20 years of making democracy more accessible. Your work continues to inspire civic technologists and democratic reformers around the world!
Events
June 13: 4th Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies (Athens, Greece)
June 18-20: Inaugural Africa Regional Conference on Parliament and Legislation (AFRIPAL, Kampala, Uganda)
July 29-31: Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments (IPU, Geneva, Switzerland)
October 1-3: Athens Democracy Forum (Athens, Greece)
October 7–9: Open Government Partnership Summit (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain)
October 6–12: 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (Bridgetown, Barbados)
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