e-gov .br
Telematics – the converging combination of digital electronic information and communications technologies – offers powerful and ever cheaper means to perfect our democracy, pay our social debt, and stimulate our economy. We propose that its application be a strategic priority in all spheres of government.
The key to realize this objective is to perfect and extend existing technological and organizational infrastructures, innovating and creating new ones wherever there are gaps. Brazil is already a leader in e-government among the large developing countries. But we can go much further by the end of this decade, reaching a position among the leaders of the developed industrialized countries.
The penetration of the Internet among the lower-middle and low-income population is still incipient, and progress here depends above all developing public access points (through telecenters, schools, libraries, etc.). To achieve this objective we must build the future with creativity, but taking advantage of successful programs in Brazil and abroad, adapting them and integrating them into a broader strategy. The key slogans must be: study, invent, test, build on what works, integrate, and extend to the grass roots – following a strategy developed in a participatory way, with a democratic vision. We cannot forget the contributions that the private sector and organized civil society can offer, nor the important more traditional electronic communication tools: radio and television.
The practices of the business world have much to offer – managing and individualizing the relationship with clients (B2C – using the Internet); relations with suppliers, the marketing chain and investors (B2B – extranet), and internal management (intranet – including for life-long education of the labor force). The corresponding governmental functions are called G2C (relations with citizens), G2B (relations with suppliers and investors), and G2G (relations between governmental agencies at all levels of government). G2G can be divided into horizontal relationships (between agencies at a single level of the federation) and vertical (between agencies at different levels of the federation – the federal government, the major regions, the states, the metropolitan regions, and the municipalities). In the opposite direction, from society to government, B2G and C2G, the relationships have a dimension which has no parallel in the business world. They represent participation in the formulation of public policies and the exercise of social control over government.
A challenge is to break down the corporative “silos” of the various governmental agencies in order to better meet citizen needs. Electronic democracy is a powerful tool for public administration reform – it facilitates transparency, efficiency in public service delivery, the fight against corruption, and the individualization of service provision. To realize the potential of electronic democracy, an intensive effort at reflection, participatory planning, and involvement of all stakeholders is needed.
We suggest two principal new approaches for the Brazilian electronic governments. First, citizens should participate in monitoring and democratic control of governmental structures. These structures should exist to serve the needs of citizens and not the corporative or individual interests of civil servants and pubic managers. Second, the e-government strategy should involve realizable synergistic objectives, making the whole more than the sum of the parts, subject to negotiated budgetary allocations.
Before detailing our suggestions, we review global technological and economic trends which serve as a backdrop – digital convergence and the development of an ever more globalized, knowledge-based economy. Then we analyze television’s role and deep penetration in Brazil, and of its use in distance education. In this area Brazil is already a world leader, but with a clear strategy and better organization, it is possible to advance rapidly. The development of the Internet in Brazil is more recent, and also faster. But its penetration is still far less than necessary for it to become an effective and powerful instrument of socio-economic development – hence digital inclusion (bridging the digital divide) has to be the point of departure for achieving electronic democracy in Brazil.
The same can be said for electronic government, which is still based mainly on the Internet. But here we go into more detail, making a critical analysis not only of the successes of the federal, state and municipal governments through the end of 2002, but also the challenges which remain to be confronted beginning in 2003.
Our suggestions are based on the analysis which we develop in the first two chapters, and on principles we derive both from the relevant theories and from Brazilian and international experience. We suggest using electronic government as a tool to reform the State and its bureaucratic structures. To achieve this it is necessary to improve the conditions for electronic democracy in three key areas:
We suggest prioritizing the development of electronic government projects that improve direct service to the public in four central state functions: education and training, health, public safety, and justice – and indirectly through the expansion of e-procurement, which lowers the cost of goods and services used by the states while at the same time reducing opportunities for corruption and increasing transparency in the bidding process.
We believe that the development of electronic government along these lines will strengthen our democracy and accelerate not only reducing our deep social inequities, which we call the social debt, but also enhancing the competitiveness of our economy, where knowledge and efficient organization are ever more important.
The principal message of this book is that Brazil has already achieved a great deal in the field of e-democracy, and that this experience has much to teach, not only for Brazil, but also for the world, but that there remains much to be done. The whole book demonstrates this – the first part with three chapters written by the organizing authors, and the second with seven chapters on Brazilian experiences in the executive branch (federal, state, and municipal) and in various areas – education, health, and public safety. We also present experience in the legislative and judicial branches of government. All the major geo-economic regions of Brazil are represented – from e-justice in Rio Grande do Sul to the identification of criminals in Rondônia. Pernambuco is present in the work on e-public safety, and so are Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Espírito Santo – each of these states has one or more chapters covering different aspects of e-government. We have collaborating authors from the governments of Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luis Inácio Lula da Silva as well as collaborators from state governments, NGOs, public and private enterprises, research institutes, and universities. This diversity reflects our objective of making available successful Brazilian experiences without linking ourselves with any particular government or political group.
There are four additional messages which we wish to communicate to readers:
Telemática e Desenvolvimento Ltda.
