Foreword

The Digital Government Review of Brazil assesses the federal government’s digital government policies, programmes and projects, and provides concrete policy recommendations for their improvement, drawing on practices and experiences of the OECD. The analysis focuses on how to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of Brazil’s Digital Governance Strategy, connecting it with the broader objectives and programmes of the country’s public sector reform agenda. The targeted and practical policy recommendations aim to help the Brazilian government capitalise on its digital government achievements and strategically plan and implement a shift from e-government to digital government.

In recent decades, the government of Brazil has increasingly used digital technologies to render its public institutions more functional, agile and responsive to citizen and business demands. However, the complexity of Brazil’s public sector demands state-of-the-art approaches that ensure co-ordination and accelerate capacity-building processes across agencies and levels of government. To take digital government efforts to the next level of maturity, the government of Brazil will have to navigate increasingly complex technology-related choices.

The main challenge facing the Brazilian public sector is how to use technologies effectively across policy areas to remain competitive in a globalised world and to deliver convenient and efficient services to citizens. Like other governments worldwide, Brazil needs to find ways to embed innovative solutions into procedures for both internal and external use. This will entail better governance, the right capacities and skills, and citizen and data-driven approaches to service delivery.

To continue in its evolution towards digital government, the Brazilian government asked the OECD to identify the strengths and weaknesses in its current policies and programmes. The review drew on the OECD knowledge base and exchange of good practices, visions and strategies developed through the work of the OECD Working Party of Senior Digital Government Officials (E-Leaders). The review also builds upon the analytic framework provided by the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Digital Government Strategies (2014) and on the experience of the Reform of the Public Sector Division of the OECD Public Governance Directorate through the development of similar projects over the last 15 years across OECD countries and other countries. A digital government survey was administered to both central agency and federal public sector organisations. Finally, the review brought together several experts and policy practitioners from other countries to provide peer insights.