by Carlos Alberto Primo Braga*

Brazilian initiatives in electronic government are attracting growing international interest. In research comparing the level of progress in using the Internet in different countries,  for example, Brazil frequently figures among the leaders in providing online government services, even though in other indicators (for example public access to the Internet) its ranking leaves much to be desired.

See, for example, the index of  “networking readiness” published in The Global Information Technology Report: Readiness for the Networked World, 2002-2003, S. Dutta, B. Lanvin e F. Paua, eds., (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). According to this index, Brazil ranks 29th among the 80 countries analyzed.  But for the availability of online government services (one of the factors considered in the construction of the index), Brazil was ranked 8th. In this context, the present book is an important contribution for understanding Brazilian experience in this area. 

E-gov.br brings together, among its authors and contributors, authorities on Brazilian electronic government and, in broader terms, the construction of the information society in Brazil. The book combines not only theoretical analyses of the opportunities and challenges confronted by pioneering programs in the field of electronic government, but also detailed evaluations of the implementation of these programs.

Brazilian experience confirms some aspects already identified as common elements of successful programs in other countires. First of all, the fundamental role of leadership in transforming a vision of electronic government into reality. Success in implementing electronic government depends not only on the adoption of competent technological solutions. It presuposes a redefinition of the public sector's attatude toward citizens. Services have to be rethought from the viewpoint user needs. In this context, such programs frequently include not only a "digital" transformation of procedures, but also substantial institutional transformations. Such transformations, in their turn, depend on the quality and the engagement of leadership, both of organizations directly involved in the process and at a broader political level. 

Second, it is important to obtain concrete results at the level of users to strengthen the reform process. Programs that can document improved efficency of the interface between government and citizens (as for example, in income tax filing) or in the perceptions of society regarding the transparency of governmental practices (associated, for example, with the growing use of systems of e-procurement) have a better chance of attracting the support and resources needed to sustain reform.

Third, it is fundamental to avoid having corporative "silos" at the levels of governmental agencies and organs define implementation parameters for electronic government. Such programs should be designed as part of administrative and institutional reforms that directly confront inefficient bureaucratic processes, and place the citizen/client at the focal point of such efforts (instead of the internal logic of "computerization" of the agencies in question).

The examples presented in E-gov.br clearly illustrate the dynamism of Brazilian experience in this area. The cases at the state level complement and enrich the federal experiences, offering a broad intellectual "menu" for reflection and action not only at the national, but also the international level.

The authors also make an important contribution in identifying the Achilles heel of the social inclusion process in Brazil in the information age. In this context, the experience of leapfrogging stages in adopting practices of electronic government documented in several of the chapters of this book offers a valuable perspective for designing a broader digital inclusion policy.

This is the key to the author's expectation that the promise of "revolution" through electronic government, introduced in the title of this work, will be transformed into reality in the near future.  The enthusiasm and competence of the authors – Ali Chahin, Maria Peter Knight e Solon Lemos Pinto – are motives for optimism and hope on this new frontier in the process of economic development.

*Senior Advisor, International Trade Department of the World Bank, Geneva Office, since September 2003. Previously he was Senior Manager of the Information Solutions Group of the Bank and director of the Development Gateway (a web portal sharing information n matters related to economic and social development); Manager of the infoDev program, a multi-donor fund for innovative projects projects using information and communication technologies; and responsible for the external activities of the Bank related to the Y2K problem. Before joining the Bank in 1991 as Economist in the International Trade Diviion of the Internaiononal Economics Department of the Bank, he was a consultant for the Organization of American States, a Fullbright Scholar at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University, and Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Administration at the University of São Paulo (FEA/USP). He hold a Mechanical Engineering degree from the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA, São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil), a Masters degree in Economics from the University of São Paulo, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Universityu of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne. Email: cbraga@worldbank.org.