Revamping Parline: how we modernised the IPU’s global parliamentary database

TL;DR 

We partnered with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to completely modernise Parline, their global parliamentary data platform used by 180+ national parliaments. 

We migrated their legacy Drupal infrastructure to a scalable time-series database using MongoDB, built a high-performance REST API with Fastify, a bespoke data-entry system with Next.js (React) and delivered a multilingual, user-friendly frontend with WordPress. 

The system enables historical tracking of parliamentary data, improved accessibility for researchers and lays the foundation for future data contribution by member parliaments.

Our ongoing partnership ensures continuous support, training, and platform evolution for a more transparent, democratic future.

Challenges

The IPU required a database capable of tracking the status of parliaments worldwide at any historical date, not just the current state, which is  a limitation of most existing databases. To achieve this, we developed a “time-series database” using MongoDB, enabling us to record and retrieve various data points over time.

The previous Parline site was using Drupal for data management. There are significant differences between Drupal and MongoDB in how data is tracked and stored, but the previous version of Drupal was outdated, could no longer receive security and maintenance updates and the database had significant problems with site-speed and availability. Therefore, the migration of all data to MongoDB was necessary.

This project involved creating a “public API”, which is the way in which other applications can access and use raw data stored within a database.  The IPU team wanted to use the redevelopment as an opportunity to introduce a fully-featured API on top of the Parline data-set. Initially a read-only API, we’ve worked with the IPU to make Parline’s vast wealth of data available over a REST interface to data researchers and other members of the public. 

We’re also working with the IPU team to explore future functionality to make a write-version of the API available to parliaments to allow the direct upload of new Parline data. We utilised the Fastify Node framework for this API, to ensure good performance even when dealing with vast amounts of complex, time-series data.

What we did

IPU were looking for a new website and modernised data handling for the Parline database, capable of tracking data from all parliaments at any given time. Additionally, the system needed to support multiple languages, enabling each parliament to effortlessly update their information. We successfully revamped their previous database and migrated all their data, resulting in a user-friendly site that provides easy access to Parline’s comprehensive data.

We started by analysing the data structure of their previous platform and conducting research into the user experience of the Parline site. Our findings indicated that the best solution for data migration onto the new platform was to implement an API server with a fully-featured RESTful API as the core system component. This enabled seamless communication for data and functionality sharing between the various systems needed for the website.

The time-series nature of the Parline data, means that out-the-box content management systems were not a good fit (something that the IPU team had realised with their legacy Drupal database). We worked with the IPU team to develop a bespoke admin interface for uploading data across multiple points-in-time, in an intuitive manner. This system component was developed using React and the Next.js framework.

Additionally, we designed a new modern technical architecture for their website, which includes search tools, data access, and visualisations. We did this by building the front end of their website using WordPress, which enabled us to include user-friendly content editing, and user management in multiple languages. This allows Parline admins and different parliaments to easily edit their data as needed, using a straightforward process.

Long term partnership

We will continue to work with the Inter-Parliamentary Union beyond the initial services we have provided. We will provide the training needed for their members on using the database and website, as well as upgrades and enhancements along with anything else they may need from us. In addition, we support the organisation in hosting their new database.

By offering continuous support and hosting services, it allows us to foster lasting relationships with our clients. This approach ensures that our clients can make the most out of the services we provide, continuing to enhance the experience for their stakeholders while improving efficiency for the internal team. These are key goals we strive to achieve for everyone we work with.