Crossrail Parliamentary Support System (PaSS)
Digital Antics have delivered a unique, bespoke solution for their client Crossrail to greatly ease the presentation of evidence during the parliamentary petitions process in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Easing the Petition Process
The PaSS system was designed to make the collection, categorisation, storage and display of evidence to QCs and MPs fast and easy. It also removes the need for excessive amounts of unnecessary paper printouts of photos, reports and other documents. All of the collected evidence is stored in one quick to search and easy to use database that is available to an operator at the touch of a button - there is no longer the need for those hearing the case to have to hunt through folder upon folder to find the document that the petitioner is referring to.
The evidence is requested by a QC or the petitioner and the PaSS operator quickly searches the database to find that piece of evidence and display it. Multiple outputs from the system allow each person hearing the case to have their own individual high resolution TFT screen so that they can see the evidence in detail. For complex drawings and images, eg. maps, the operator can zoom in to areas to show more detail.
Additionally the operator can overlay a pointer on the screen to highlight a particular reference.
The entire system installed in the Houses of Parliament had to be completed with zero aesthetic impact on the interior. Therefore, we designed the operator’s desk and the racking units to contain all of the equipment whilst disguising it to look like part of the room. The system is also fully portable and can be moved between venues at a moment’s notice.
Control and Auditing
The system automatically records every piece of evidence that is displayed and logs it to the database. At the end of the day or session, that log is returned to the ingestion client (potentially offsite) and a record of all of the evidence shown is built automatically. This reduces the chances of human error where incorrect logs are made or incorrect references to evidence given. Reference numbers are automatically burnt into each piece of evidence enabling the record to be printed and distributed quickly.
For the first time in the Houses of Parliament, a complete record of evidence, together with the transcript of the session, is available on the internet in PDF form within 24 hours.
Flexibility
Using a distributed system of control and output, the system can be modified to include outputs in separate locations, not just in the same room as the case is being heard.
A separate high resolution document scanner is being used with the system to allow for last minute information or evidence that has not been included within the database, to still be used as evidence. The document scanner can be displayed onto the output screens and can be captured and included as evidence within the petition currently being heard.
See Also
- Exhibit Presentations in Bespoke Products.