The luddites are still in charge

The Herald has an extremely interesting article on the IT deficiencies of our politicians by the former head of broadcasting at the Parliament. I think that this passage is a bit over the top:

I found the IT literacy of the average - or even the above-average - MSP to be frighteningly low. The average 14-year-old could knock spots off all but a handful of our MSPs when it comes to an appreciation of the practical value of the digital revolution. Blogs, YouTube, WAP, video diaries, the list goes on. It's all part of their language, a way of life.
If you don't believe me, just look at the embarrassing websites of all but a handful of our MSPs - each of whom has all the advantages of offices, full-time staff and a parliamentary allowance specifically to help them communicate with their constituents. My daughter, who is 13, has a Bebo site that is far better than most MSPs' sites, which she made herself for nothing with freely downloadable software. Hers is bang up to date, with pictures from her school Burns Supper; yet even when Gordon Brown takes over, I'm sure a few of our MSPs' sites will still show Tony Blair as Prime Minister for a few months (or more).
There is a serious point here. Our political classes can't credibly lead an IT revolution when they themselves are at best the equivalent of learner drivers. In my view this all but disqualifies them from any meaningful input to the wider debate on the democratic potential of the internet. Even when dealing with non-interactive and non-threatening technologies, our MSPs act like a group of collective luddites.

To be fair, most 14 year-olds could knock spots off most of us (including me) when it comes to IT. But it is a valid point that MSPs can afford to pay (handsomely) for professional advice and choose not to. And the parliament's attitude to blogs is no more enlightened than that of the Executive (see here); bloggers may be welcome at Davos and at political party conferences (at least those in England), but how many bloggers are accredited to the Scottish Parliament?