Maria Alexandra Cunha

Increasing collaboration and participation in smart city governance: a cross-case analysis of smart city initiatives

ABSTRACT This study addresses the concept of smart governance in the context of smart cities, with a focus on analyzing the phenomenon of smart collaboration. Relying on the existing collaboration and participation concepts in the smart city domain, an empirical analysis was undertaken of how ICT can promote collaborative governance and increase the participation and engagement in government. The multiple case studies focus on three cities in Brazil that run municipal operations centers in an effort to “become smarter”: Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, and Belo Horizonte. Interviews with directors, managers, and technicians shed light on the contribution that ICT makes in promoting an environment of collaboration in the government. The findings have revealed that ICT has an important role in supporting information sharing and integration between government agencies and external stakeholders, including citizens, especially in developing countries.

Internet e participação: o caso do orçamento participativo digital de Belo Horizonte

This research aims at investigating the social representations in public participation decision-making using ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). The Belo Horizonte City Hall used ICT for the first time in 2006, in the Digital Participatory Budget (OP-Digital). It was a choice made by the population of the implementation of public works for the next two years. The OP-Digital was applied again in 2008 and 2011, but with a lower participation than its first edition. We performed this study to understand the use of Internet by citizens in public decision making and to explain the decline of popular participation. The methodological approach is based in social representations theory and in the critical discourse analysis of 101 texts - from the press and from public agencies or government representatives. Our results suggest that current political strategies were not fully exploiting the potential for interaction and collective construction offered by the Internet, trivializing it. This may be one of the reasons of lower participation.

eParticipation and the policy cycle: Designing a research agenda

This article aimed to identify implications of eParticipation in the public policy cycle. This reflection was supported by a bibliographic study and analysis of the research conducted on eParticipation over the last 10 years. Based on this analysis, we found that although previous studies indicate the need to investigate the citizenrys potential to contribute to the formulation of public policies, few have included the public policy cycle in the context of eParticipation. It has also not yet been explained how the use of platforms changes or transforms the public policy process. There are few developed theories in the field of eParticipation. Thus, given the lack of depth in the literature on this topic and the possibility for achieving empowerment levels and more inclusive levels of participation, there are gaps to be considered in this context. A research agenda is suggested to address these outstanding questions.

Uncovering Governmental Transparency in Federative States: Diverse Government Spheres, Heterogeneous Outcomes

This study aims to problematize the issue of government transparency in federative states. As the Brazilian case is analyzed, it also approaches the question of territorial heterogeneity and its effects. Methodology consisted of comparative analysis of the transparency indexes among the three different spheres of government: municipalities, states and central government. Observation of 125 public administration websites reveals that the more limited the sphere of government, the lower the level of transparency is. In other words, Brazilian central government is more transparent than the state ones, and these, in turn, are more transparent than the municipal governments. These differences do not corroborate the maxim employed by supporters of the federalism that local governments tend to establish closer relations with citizens. Furthermore, integrated action among all the government spheres may be recommendable to obtain better transparency outcomes.

Get Into the Club: Positioning a Developing Country in the International eGov Research

The aim of this paper is to suggest alternatives for positioning a developing country in the international eGov research. We conducted a literature review, examining both Brazilian and international publications. We analyzed the domain of collaboration in the field through a social network analysis of authors, institutions and countries. Our study identified that the discussions concerning eGov are predominant; there is more intense collaboration in the network of institutions than of authors; the co‐authorship network reflects the existence of a select number of central authors and, not surprisingly, the study of eGov is centralized in the USA and UK. This study complements previous studies and provides further understanding on how authors, institutions and countries cooperate. The findings of the study are not limited to Brazil, other countries that have barriers to internalization of research can benefit from the data.

Positioning Brazil in International eGov Research: A Proposal Based from Literature Review

The aim of this paper is to suggest alternatives for positioning the Brazil in international eGov research. We conducted a review of the literature, examining both Brazilian and international publications. We analyzed the domain of collaboration in the field through a social network analysis of authors, institutions and countries. Our study identified the following results: discussions concerning eGov are predominant, there is more intense collaboration in the network of institutions than of authors, the co-authorship network reflects the existence of a select number of central authors and the study of eGov is centralized in the USA and UK. This study complements previous studies and provides further understanding on how authors, institutions and countries cooperate. The findings of the study are not limited to Brazil, other countries that have barriers to internalization of research can benefit from the data.

The client-consultant relationship in the implementation of ERP in government: exploring the dynamic between power and knowledge

This article investigates the client-consultant relationship in the implementation of ERP using a case study of the human resources model in the government of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The implantation of ERP and the client-consultant relationship have been thoroughly discussed for the private sector, but have yet to be well understood in a government context. To understand this dynamic, the theoretical framework of Pozzebon and Pinsonneault has been used, which suggests that knowledge and power are shared and negotiated during the implementation of configurable technologies such as ERP. The findings show a dynamic of cooperation between client and consultant due to mutual necessity, with diverse mechanisms of knowledge and power that influence the relationship. Between them, mechanisms that may be exclusive to the government scenario: the common language, the involvement of an external agent in the project and the external IT team. The study examines the application of the theoretical framework in a public sector context, providing insight concerning the client-consultant relationship in an arena where public expenditure on consultancy and management tends to increase. Owing to the particular nature of government, the study provides insight that can benefit governments and consultants in the implementation of successful ERP.

Políticas de Governo Eletrônico no Brasil: Contexto, Gestão de Tic e Resultados

The State Reform processes combined with the emergence and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) originated electronic government policies and initiatives in Brazil. This paper dwells on Brazilian e-government by investigating the institutional design it assumed in the state’s public sphere, and how it contributed to outcomes related to e-gov possibilities. The analyses were carried out under an interpretativist perspective by making use of Institutional Theory. From the analyses of interviews with relevant actors in the public sphere, such as state secretaries and presidents of public ICT companies, conclusions point towards low institutionalization of e-gov policies. The institutional design of Brazilian e-gov limits the use of ICT to provide integrated public services, to amplify participation and transparency, and to improve public policies management.Os processos de reforma do estado combinados com a emergencia e uso de tecnologia da informacao e comunicacao (tic) deram origem, no brasil, a politicas e acoes de governo eletronico. este artigo debruca-se sobre o e-governo brasileiro, investigando o desenho institucional que ele assumiu na esfera estadual do pais e como contribui para os resultados associados as possibilidades do e-gov. numa perspectiva interpretativista, utilizou-se a teoria institucional como lente teorica no exame do campo. a partir da analise de entrevistas feitas a atores relevantes na esfera dos estados brasileiros, tais como secretarios de estado e presidentes de empresas publicas de informatica, as conclusoes apontam para a baixa institucionalizacao das politicas de e-governo. o desenho institucional do governo eletronico brasileiro limita a utilizacao das tic na prestacao de servicos publicos integrados, na ampliacao de participacao e transparencia, e no aprimoramento de politicas publicas.

E-participation, social media and digital gap: challenges in the brazilian context

This article discusses the technological challenges and limitations of the use of social media in e-participation initiatives in Brazil. Based on the descriptive analysis of two national surveys on ICT use by governments and citizens and the democracy cube framework, three main challenges were identified to promote e-participation in Brazilian public sector decisions via social media: i) reduce the digital divide; ii) improve the relationship between public organizations and citizens through social media platforms; and iii) increase availability of online participation initiatives by public organizations.

Open government data programs: the political system matters? revisiting the dawes' ecosystem model

In this paper, we review the open government data ecosystem model proposed by Dawes et al (2016) with the objective of identifying how the political dimension influences the open data ecosystem in local government. We intend to study two empirical cases, SÃo Paulo and Curitiba, both in Brazil, to address the following research question: how does the political system influence in open data government ecosystem?