Conclusion

Fall Behind or Leapfrog?¹ 

From e-gov.br to e-dem.br

We believe that e-government will be the next Brazilian revolution, but there are two basic conditions for this revolution to take place.

First, information and communication technologies and, in the governmental sphere, the actions of electronic government,  should cease to be for the almost exclusive benefit of the Brazilian elites.  In August of 2003, members of the upper middle and upper classes (known in Brazilian marketing circles as classes A and B) were the great majority of regular Internet users, given the digital exclusion which still prevails in Brazil. E-government has to be a democratic revolution. The use of electronic means may strengthen the exercise of democracy, but this will not happen spontaneously, technology is not naturally democratic, it can serve democratic societies but also tyrannies and dictatorships.

The second condition is, therefore, that there be a strong public policy to support digital inclusion and social mobilization to achieve this objective – the exercise of democracy. In the book we show that Brazil has accomplished a great deal. The country has reached a position of world leadership in areas like electronic elections and income tax declarations delivered via the Internet. But there remains much to do – the Achilles heel of Brazil is its huge social debt, manifested this time as digital exclusion, and for which telematics promises much as an instrument to pay this shameful debt.

A fundamental part of establishing a future electronic democracy is the creation of electronic governments, with services and information that really attract people, because the people are treated as valued citizens, and not as objects to be exploited, for whom difficulties are created in order to sell “facilitation”, not respecting the value of their time nor their needs. Electronic government is necessary because the use of electronic means permits transparency, participation, social control, and accountability. Electronic democracy, that is the final result of the revolutions we seek, presupposes information available any place, at any hour and for all, with value for the individual, broadening his or her exercise of citizenship.

Information has a high economic value and its application produces employment and income. Information that is systematically distributed and accessible stimulates social control of the State by organized civil society. Thus, electronic government should be an integral part of electronic democracy. Much remains to be done to make this democracy a reality for the great majority of citizens. We need a generalized consciousness in Brazilian society concerning the importance of electronic democracy in order to leapfrog in economic, social, and political development. We hope our book will contribute to the creation of this consciousness.

Run and still fall behind?

In e-government, as in other fields, making progress slowly won’t do. A country, state or city can easily fall behind others that are progressing faster. Brazil can also leapfrog instead of falling behind in the international rankings. What is necessary is a shared vision within the federal government and among the other key players – state and municipal governments, the private sector, and organized civil society. The international consulting firm Accenture, in its fourth annual report on e-government (e-Government Leadership: Engaging the Customer, published in April of 2003–copies can be downloaded by doing a search on the site www.accenture.com), found that Brazil has already passed beyond the first stage of e-government maturity, “online presence“ to the second, that Accenture calls “basic capacity”. The third is “service availability”, and the fourth “mature service delivery”.

What characterizes the fifth stage, reached in 2002 by Canada? Canada’s vision is to improve the delivery of services to citizens and businesses. The principal measure of success is the percentage of these “clients” using e-government services. Canada’s e-government is no longer an isolated initiative, but part of a broader transformation of government services.  The different channels for reaching clients are integrated – Internet, telephone, fax, and face-to-face interaction. The organization, processes, and technology change not just within governmental agencies, but between them.

Brazil can get there. What is necessary is political leadership, coordination between ministries and other government agencies, optimization of existing economic resources, and, above all, a great effort to increase digital inclusion. Canada has 70% of its population using the Internet frequently, Brazil about 11%. There is no way to leapfrog  stages in e-government development in Brazil without providing public access points for the lower middle and low-income population (known in Brazil market survey research as classes C, D, and E) while at the same time seeking to reduce the cost of connectivity  by increasing competition between telecommunications service providers, improving technology, and taking advantage of free and open-source software.

The need for a national collective effort to leapfrog

Promoting digital and social inclusion is fundamental for Brazil’s economic development. What is socially just is also economically necessary and can bring both economic and political benefits to those who lead this effort. Brazil wants changes that will be capable of creating an environment that stimulates economic growth that will create more employment and incomes. One of the best ways to do this is to take advantage of the potential offered by the digital revolution, a convergence of technologies which is rapidly lowering the cost of processing, storing, and transmitting data, information, and knowledge – that encourages innovation and new development paradigms.

What is needed is a national collective effort, which unites the efforts of governments, businesses and organized civil society, realizing important synergies and returns to scale.

The first steps in this collective effort are already being taken. Consider some examples.

Brazil is ready for this national collective effort to promote accelerated development. The crucial factor will be a mobilization of the country’s population with the same intensity with which it organizes Carnival, creates a national movement to support its soccer  teams in the World Cup, supported direct elections after a long period of military rule, or mourned the death of politicians like Tancredo Neves (who died on the eve of his inauguration as Brazil’s first elected president since 1962) or Ayerton Senna, a Formula 1 driver who was a national hero. This collective national effort should combine  enthusiasm, spontaneity, civic spirit, and contagious popular organization – something very Brazilian

Brazil needs to leapfrog to realize its potential. For this, the country must develop a clear strategic vision and to establish clear and objective priorities and goals. The use of telematics for economic, social, and political development offers the best chance of paying the social debt and allowing Brazil to assume a position of leadership, not only in Latin America, but in the world, principally among the emerging economies. Brazil, learning at home, using digital inclusion as a weapon in the battle for social, political and economic inclusion, can teach other countries by its example and by the relevance of its experience. Electronic democracy is important not only for Brazil and Latin America, but also to share with Africa so that we can tread the same path. And also to prove that Brazil can develop world-class solutions in the use of information technology, exportable to more advanced countries, as it has in the case of electronic elections.