In this paper, a methodology for estimating the parameters of discrete-time systems and designing a digital PID controller is presented. To deal with optimization problems occurring regarding parameter estimation and controller design, a pseudo parallel genetic algorithm(PPGA) is developed. The PPGA is characterized by several serial GAs, the migration model and the ring topology . The parameters of a discrete-time system are estimated using both the model technique and a PPGA. The digital PID controller is described by the pulse transfer function and its parameters are tuned based on both the model reference technique and another PPGA. A set of experimental works on two processes are carried out to illustrate the performance of the proposed method.