The system evolved from a research project conducted jointly by the Scottish Parliament, the International Teledemocracy Centre at Edinburgh Napier University and BT Scotland, as part of an investigation into the use of information and communication technologies in encouraging democratic participation.
Signatories’ names are displayed for transparency, but addresses are stored privately, ensuring that the system complies with data protection laws.
The creation of a devolved Parliament for Scotland in 1999 presented the opportunity to establish a process of government that incorporated the prevailing views on best practice.
[2][3] One of their proposals, retained in the report, was that the parliament should employ all forms of information and communication technology "innovatively and appropriately" to support openness, accessibility and participation.
In December 1999, the PPC entered into partnership with ITC and BT Scotland to design of the e-petitioner system, geared towards meeting the standards of openness, accessibility and participation aspired to in contemporary democracy.
[4] The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) were conducting a campaign to provide National Park status for selected coastal regions of Scotland and accepted the opportunity to raise the first e-petition run by the PPC, which they called 'Our Seas Deserve a vote'.
The pilot system developed out of this conjunction: The Parliament defining their user requirements and WWF specifying what features would be attractive to civic groups (NGOs) wanting an accessible and transparent lobbying tool.
In June 2004, the e-petitioner system was chosen as part of the UK Government's Local e-Democracy National Project, funded by the ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister).
In 2006, the e@SY Connects partnership in South Yorkshire worked with ITC to implement e-Petitioner[7] as a part of the 'Hanse Passage Participation' initiative[8][9] The e@SY Connects partnership's aim is to provide the local population with information and services via interactive television, mobile phone, information kiosks and the Internet.
In 2007–08 Public-i worked with the ITC to develop the ideas as an open-source petitioning component of their 'eParticipate' suite of applications which has now been implemented by Bristol Council.