18% of Brazilian municipalities have "smart cities" plans, points out ICT Electronic Government Survey 2017

Offering of Internet services, use of software and cloud computing were also analyzed in the Cetic.br survey

The third edition of the ICT Electronic Government Survey, conducted by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) through the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br), investigated for the first time the presence of municipal smart city projects or plans among Brazilian municipalities, as well as the use of technologies in urban management. In 2017, 18% of the municipalities targeted by the survey reported having some smart city plan or project. This proportion reaches 77% in capitals and 70% in municipalities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants.

Released today (02/05) in Brasília (DF), during the Seminar on Perspectives for Digital Government in Brazil, held by the Ministry of Planning Development and Management, of the Federal Government, the study also investigated the use of technologies in urban management: municipal buses with GPS devices that send information on location and speed of vehicles (14%); smart lighting systems that allow energy consumption measurement or remote adjustment of lighting in areas of the municipality (7%); smart traffic lights controlled remotely (4%). All initiatives using ICT in urban management surveyed were more mentioned among capitals, with the most common being: electronic tickets for public transportation (81%), smart traffic lights (69%), buses with GPS (58%), and monitoring sensors for risk areas (50%).

“The concept of smart cities is increasingly present in urban policies and on the agendas of international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), prompting reflection on how smart cities can become possible paths for addressing urban challenges. It is therefore essential to measure the use of technology in urban management and how it can actually improve the lives of the people living in cities,” highlights Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br.

Online social networks

According to the ICT Electronic Government 2017, approximately three out of every four federal and state public agencies (77%) and municipalities (75%) in Brazil claimed to have their own profiles on online social networks. For the first time, the existence of profiles or accounts on applications like WhatsApp or Telegram was surveyed, mentioned by 25% of federal and state public agencies and 17% of municipalities.

Only 26% of federal and state public agencies declared having a manual or guide for publishing content on social networks – this proportion is 15% among municipalities. The majority declared having a person or area responsible for relationship management with citizens on online social networks: 84% of federal and state public agencies and 76% of municipalities. On the other hand, in federal agencies, the existence of some outsourcing in citizen relationship service on these networks increased from 8% to 20% between 2015 and 2017. Among municipalities, 15% declared outsourcing this type of relationship.

Public services via the Internet

Despite nearly all state and federal public agencies having websites (90%), only 25% of state agencies offered the most sought-after public service entirely via the Internet, while this proportion reaches 44% among federal agencies. The most cited reasons by state agencies for not providing the most sought-after public service entirely online are not being possible to perform the service entirely via the Internet (59%) and legal restrictions (39%).

Among municipalities, the proportion of those having websites increased from 88% (2015) to 93% (2017). Regarding online services, the proportion of municipalities offering electronic invoices increased (from 41% to 51%), ongoing administrative or judicial process consultations (from 33% to 46%), and document issuance like licenses, permits, and certificates (from 31% to 40%), especially in municipalities located in the interior and with up to 10 thousand inhabitants. Despite this growth, only three of the nine services measured by the survey are available on the website by more than half of the municipalities: downloading documents or forms (83%), filling out or submitting forms (55%) and issuing electronic invoices (51%).

Software and cloud computing services

The 2017 edition of the ICT Electronic Government also points out that the use of open source software is more common in federal public agencies (93%) than in state ones (78%), being used in the federal sphere mainly by IT employees (99%) and for the operation of data servers and networks (96%). In 85% of federal agencies and 57% of state ones, new software was developed to meet their specific needs. In the Judiciary organs and Public Ministry, this proportion exceeds 90%. Approximately half of the federal public agencies (52%) that developed software within their organization or to meet specific needs of the agency also shared or provided this software to other public agencies.

According to the survey, the most contracted cloud computing services by federal and state public agencies are email (25%) and file or database storage (20%), with these services being provided primarily by public IT organizations in state agencies.

About the Survey

Conducted between July and October 2017, the ICT Electronic Government explores the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in two types of organizations: federal and state public agencies of all branches (Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, and Public Prosecutor's Office) and also in municipalities (Municipal Executive). In 2017, 624 federal and state public agencies belonging to the Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, and Public Prosecutor's branches and 1,062 Brazilian municipalities were interviewed via telephone.

To access the full survey, including complete tables of proportions, totals, and respective margins of error, as well as review the historical series, visit https://cetic.br/pesquisa/governo-eletronico/indicadores.

Compare indicators' evolution through data visualization at https://data.cetic.br/cetic/explore?idPesquisa=TIC_EGOV.

About Cetic.br

The Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society, part of NIC.br, is responsible for producing indicators and statistics on Internet availability and use in Brazil, providing periodic analyses and information on the network's development in the country. Cetic.br is a Regional Study Center, under UNESCO auspices. More information at https://www.cetic.br/.

About the Brazilian Network Information Center – NIC.br

The Brazilian Network Information Center — NIC.br (https://www.nic.br/) is a private, non-profit civil entity that, besides implementing decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, has among its responsibilities: coordinating domain name registration — Registro.br (https://www.registro.br/), studying, responding and handling security incidents in Brazil — CERT.br (https://www.cert.br/), studying and researching network and operation technologies — Ceptro.br (https://www.ceptro.br/), producing information and communication technology indicators — Cetic.br (https://www.cetic.br/), implementing and operating the Exchange Points — IX.br (https://ix.br/), enabling the participation of the Brazilian community in the global web development and supporting public policy formulation — Ceweb.br (https://www.ceweb.br), and hosting the W3C office in Brazil (https://www.w3c.br/).

About the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee – CGI.br

The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee is responsible for establishing strategic guidelines related to Internet use and development in Brazil, coordinating, and integrating all Internet service initiatives in the country, promoting technical quality, innovation, and the dissemination of offered services. Based on the principles of multistakeholderism and transparency, CGI.br represents a democratic Internet governance model, praised internationally, in which all sectors of society participate equitably in its decisions. One of its formulations is the 10 Principles for Internet Governance and Use (https://www.cgi.br/principios). More information at https://www.cgi.br/.

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