The UK Parliament was set to renew a multi-million pound printing contract and aimed to not only publish Parliamentary Procedural Data online but also enrich it with accurate data close to source, while reducing time-to-market. The centuries-long heritage of the printed edition of Hansard meant that delivering it physically to Members of Parliament next morning was crucial, making resilient systems a top priority.
The £8m Procedural Data program involved upgrading bespoke business-critical systems supporting both Houses (House of Commons & House of Lords). The in-house development team grew from 3 members handling small ad-hoc projects to over 60 developers, requiring Application and Systems Architecture to ensure all components were architected and designed to achieve the program's goals.
The challenge lay in bridging large-scale print production workflows with modern data re-use principles while ensuring seamless integration for Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery scenarios. This required a deep understanding of procedural business processes and collaboration with senior team members.
Day-to-day activities included:
- Documenting and presenting peer-reviewed Architecture artefacts, such as Solutions Options, Product Options, and High-Level Designs.
- Gaining approval from Enterprise Architects and associated board members representing areas like Operations and Support.
- Balancing modernisation with the recognition of history and heritage.
In summary, the program aimed to transform systems while respecting the unique characteristics of the UK Parliament, including its physical constraints (e.g., lead roofing diminishing WiFi signals and chambers without dedicated seats). This highlights the importance of striking a balance between innovation and preservation in a historic traditions.
Attributes
- Domain: Government. Business Critical Systems
- Enterprise Architecture, BC / DR
- Product Development
- Knowledge Information Management Systems
- Microsoft Stack. .NET Framework, C#, WPF
- OpenData / data.parliament.uk