Online Service Provision by Public Organizations Surges During Pandemic, 5th Edition of the ICT E-Government Survey Shows

Survey by CGI.br also brings unprecedented indicators on privacy and personal data protection, new technologies, and the use of ICT to combat the health crisis

In the last two years, the provision of digital public services in the country has increased across all levels of the Brazilian public sector. This is one of the highlights of the 5th edition of the ICT E-Government survey, which investigates the incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICT) by federal and state public agencies, and municipalities in the country. The survey by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) showed that in 2021, 76% of federal organizations within the Executive, Legislative, Judicial branches, and the Public Prosecutor's Office offered the most sought-after public services by citizens online, a 22 percentage point increase compared to 2019, the period before the health crisis caused by COVID-19. In the state sphere, the growth was from 31% to 45% in the same period, as per the survey released this Tuesday (26) by the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Information and Coordination Center of Ponto BR (NIC.br).

It is also noteworthy the decrease in the number of public bodies that reported not offering the most sought-after services online, both at the federal level (from 8% to 2%) and at the state level (from 20% to 13%).

“The pandemic forced many public organizations to seek alternatives so that public services would not be interrupted, especially during the most intense phase of social distancing. Offering public services online was the most used strategy for continuity,” comments Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br|NIC.br, emphasizing the importance of this advancement.

In the case of municipalities, most of the services offered via websites analyzed by the survey increased from 2019 to 2021, such as the issuance of tax bills and other payment guides, which went from 53% to 63%. Downloading documents or forms (87%), issuing electronic invoices (78%), and filling out or submitting forms (66%) were the most frequent. However, less than half of the municipalities allowed registration or enrollment via website (47%) and scheduling for consultations, services, among others (32%). All services analyzed by the survey were also less available in municipalities with smaller populations. An example is documents issuance, such as licenses, certificates, and permits, which were present on the websites of 92% of municipalities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, with the percentage falling to 51% in those with up to 10,000 inhabitants.

“Despite the observed advances, there are still disparities in the adoption and use of ICT, especially in state bodies and municipalities of smaller population sizes. This fact might reveal the need for more investment in ICT adoption at these levels of government,” comments Barbosa.

Privacy and Data Protection
The 5th edition of the study also presents three unprecedented modules: privacy and personal data protection; use of ICT to combat the pandemic; and use of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and the Internet of Things – in this last topic, data were collected only in federal and state public bodies.

The ICT E-Government 2021 pointed out that 89% of federal public bodies have a function or person responsible for implementing the General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD). The percentage is lower among state organizations (55%) and municipalities (28%). The LGPD-related actions most mentioned by both federal and state bodies were: appointing the data officer or Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the public body (81% of federal and 33% of state) and providing online channels for citizens to send messages regarding the use of their personal data by the public body (65% of federal and 34% of state). 

Among the municipalities, less than a third had an online service channel for sending messages about data processing (31%). Even among cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, only 36% of the municipalities had such an online service channel. Regarding data managers, only 14% said they had already appointed this professional. 

“According to these results, we see that the actions related to privacy and data protection analyzed by the survey are still not very present in the structures of public administration in the country. The production of data on the implementation of the LGPD could encourage more organizations to have initiatives in this regard,” says Barbosa. 

Use of ICT to Combat the Pandemic
The ICT E-Government 2021 measured the resources provided by the municipalities to the municipal education network for conducting remote classes or activities during the pandemic. Among the actions measured, the most mentioned was the offering of platforms or applications for remote classes (55%). According to the survey, 44% of municipalities had some initiative to offer devices (notebooks, tablets, or cell phones) to teachers, but only 13% adopted the same action for students. Similarly, while 30% of the municipalities provided some data packages, chips, or other subsidies for Internet connection to teachers, less than 20% implemented such initiatives for students (17%).

More than 90% of municipalities disseminated information related to vaccination and COVID-19 occurrences, both on websites and on social media profiles. A large part of them also provided data on emergency spending and contracts to combat the pandemic, especially on their websites (84%). Regarding the availability of scheduling or pre-registration for vaccination, just over a third offered this service (36%) via website, being more present in those with over 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants (61%) and more than 500,000 inhabitants (88%).

The ICT E-Government 2021 pointed out that approximately a quarter of Brazilian municipalities (24%) made available to citizens some application that provided information or services related to COVID-19 during the pandemic. The most frequent features in these applications were access to information or frequently asked questions about COVID-19 or vaccination (80%), the ability to report disease symptoms and get guidance on what to do (64%), and the possibility of pre-registration or scheduling for vaccination (60%).

Real-Time Assistance
Regarding contact channels via website, among the public bodies with an official page on the Internet, there was an increase in the proportion of real-time assistance in relation to the indicators collected in the last edition of the survey, released in 2020. In federal bodies, the use of chat with human attendants rose from 8% in 2019 to 30% in 2021. At the state level, the presence of chats with attendants went from 5% to 18% in the same period. Among municipalities, it rose from 13% to 19%.

The adoption of chatbots – automatic verbal response machines – grew by 15 percentage points in federal agencies (from 9% to 24%) and 12 percentage points among state agencies (from 6% to 18%). These forms of real-time assistance, whether with human contact or virtual assistants, are still considerably lower than, for example, email, which is present in 99% of federal and 96% of state agencies.

For the first time, the presence of virtual assistants (chatbots) was investigated on municipality websites. In 2021, only 8% adopted this kind of automated interaction with citizens, more frequently offered by municipalities in locations with more than 500,000 inhabitants (36%).

Social Media and Messaging Apps
Regarding the use of social media, 99% of federal and 92% of state agencies had social media profiles, with a 9 percentage point increase concerning 2019 among state agencies. There was also an increase in profiles on instant messaging networks such as WhatsApp or Telegram in both federal agencies (from 28% to 49%) and state agencies (from 28% to 46%) in the same period.

In municipalities, the presence on social networks through profiles on these platforms went from 82% in 2019 to 94% in 2021. The survey also indicated a growth in the availability for citizens to request public services via WhatsApp or Telegram (48% in 2021, while in 2019 the proportion was 28%) and via social networks such as Facebook or Instagram (53% in 2021 vs. 45% in 2019).

New Technologies
The adoption of new technologies is still nascent in the Brazilian public sector, as found by the ICT E-Government 2021. Among the technologies analyzed, the most mentioned during interviews was the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. The Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain were mentioned by less than 20% of federal and state organizations within the Executive, Legislative, Judicial branches and the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Almost half of the federal public bodies used some AI technology in the last 12 months (45%) and 22% of state ones. Regarding the types of AI technologies adopted, machine learning for data prediction and analysis (32% of the total federal agencies and 9% of state ones) and workflow process automation (31% of the total federal agencies and 11% of state ones) were the most cited.

One of the main changes observed in the 2021 edition of the study was the increase in the hiring of cloud computing services at all levels of government. At the federal level, for example, the adoption of cloud office software grew by 32 percentage points compared to 2019, reaching 67% of federal public bodies last year. Meanwhile, cloud email adoption increased by 25 percentage points compared to the last edition, reported by 65% of federal organizations. Additionally, 44% of federal public bodies and 34% of state ones contracted cloud storage or database services, and 34% of federal and 26% of state ones have cloud processing capability.

"The use of information and communication technologies in public organizations simplifies and enhances the government's actions with the population, improving society's access to information and services. In this regard, Brazil achieved significant advances and today ranks 15th in the Digital Government Index of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), above the OECD countries' average. The ICT E-Government survey, therefore, provides essential input for the development of digital transformation strategies in Brazil, a key topic for CGI.br, which reinforces its commitment to the regular production of statistics about the Internet in Brazil,” concludes José Gontijo, coordinator of CGI.br.

To check the complete list of indicators, visit: https://cetic.br/pt/pesquisa/governo-eletronico/indicadores/. The survey publication, also launched today (26), can be downloaded for free at: https://cetic.br/pt/publicacoes/indice/pesquisas/. To review the online launch of the study, access: https://youtu.be/VDF3xS02CRM.

About the Survey
Conducted every two years, the ICT E-Government is a measurement instrument that presents indicators to monitor the development of digital government in Brazil. In its 5th edition, the survey conducted telephone interviews in 580 federal and state public bodies of the Executive, Legislative, Judicial branches, and the Public Prosecutor's Office, and 3,543 municipalities, between August 2021 and April 2022.

About Cetic.br
The Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br), part of NIC.br, is responsible for producing indicators and statistics on Internet access and use in Brazil, disseminating periodic analyses and information about the network's development in the country. Cetic.br is also a Regional Center for Studies under the auspices of UNESCO and celebrated 17 years of activity in 2022. More information at https://cetic.br/.

About the Information and Coordination Center of Ponto BR – NIC.br
The Information and Coordination Center of Ponto BR — NIC.br (https://nic.br/) is a private non-profit civil entity responsible for operating the .br domain as well as distributing IP numbers and registering Autonomous Systems in the country. NIC.br implements the decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee - CGI.br since 2005, and all funds raised come from its activities of a predominantly private nature. It conducts actions and projects that bring benefits to Brazil's Internet infrastructure. NIC.br is composed of:  Registro.br (https://registro.br), CERT.br (https://cert.br/), Ceptro.br (https://ceptro.br/), Cetic.br (https://cetic.br/), IX.br (https://ix.br/) and Ceweb.br (https://ceweb.br), in addition to projects such as Internetsegura.br (https://internetsegura.br) and the Portal of Best Practices for Internet in Brazil (https://bcp.nic.br/). It also hosts the W3C Chapter São Paulo office (https://w3c.br/). 

About the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee – CGI.br
The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, responsible for establishing strategic guidelines related to the use and development of the Internet in Brazil, coordinates and integrates all Internet service initiatives in the country, promoting technical quality, innovation, and dissemination of the services offered. Based on the principles of multistakeholderism and transparency, CGI.br represents a democratic Internet governance model, praised internationally, where all sectors of society participate equally in its decisions. One of its formulations is the 10 Principles for Internet Governance and Use (https://cgi.br/resolucoes/documento/2009/003). More information at https://cgi.br/. 

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