Open Data on the Federal Government (BR0084)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Brazil National Action Plan 2016-2018
Action Plan Cycle: 2016
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Planning, Development and Management
Support Institution(s): Ministry of Planning, Development and Management Chamber of Deputies Ministry of Justice and Citizenship, Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Government Secretariat; Group Public Policy Research on the access to information (GPOPAI-USP), Socioeconomic Studies Institute (INESC) Open Knowledge Brasil Our Network São Paulo W3C Brasil
Policy Areas
Access to Information, Capacity Building, Open DataIRM Review
IRM Report: Brazil End-of-Term Report 2016-2018, Brazil Mid-Term Report 2016-2018
Early Results: Marginal
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): Low
Implementation i
Description
Lead government institution: Ministry of Planning, Development and Management; Civil servant in charge for implementing at lead government institution: Elise Sueli Pereira Gonçalves; Position - Department General Coordinator/Data and Public Services Coordination; E-mail: elise.goncalves@planejamento.gov.br; Telephone: 55 61 2020-1123; Other involved actors: Government: Ministry of Planning, Development and Management Chamber of Deputies Ministry of Justice and Citizenship Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Government Secretariat; Civil society, private sector, group of workers and multilateral actors: Group Public Policy Research on the access to information (GPOPAI-USP), Socioeconomic Studies Institute (INESC) Open Knowledge Brasil Our Network São Paulo W3C Brasil; Status quo or problem/issue to be addressed: Association failure between data provision and request; Main objective: To foster data provision and its use, enhancing the open data policy; Commitment short description: Carrying out communication activities aimed at society mobilization and sensitization, and making use of institutional channels for personal and virtual discussions about the theme; OGP Challenge addressed by the Commitment: Improvement of Public Services Establishment of more secure communities; Commitment relevance: Open data policy susceptibility identification; Goal: To raise government and society participation in discussions, in order to assure a bonding between open data requested from citizens and what is offered by the State, taking into account not only data, but IT tools as well and suitable ways of making information available
IRM Midterm Status Summary
I. Open Data on the Federal Government
Commitment Text:
Identify and implement mechanism for recognizing solvable or mitigable problems, upon the data presented by the government, which meets expectations from requesters and providers
To raise government and society participation in discussions, in order to assure a bonding between open data requested from citizens and what is offered by the State, taking into account not only data, but IT tools as well and suitable ways of making information available. In order to implement this initiative, the commitment envisages carrying out communication activities aimed at society mobilization and sensitization, and making use of institutional channels for personal and virtual discussions about the theme.
1.1 – Identification, among the parties involved in each action, the supplier of relevant resources, for enabling foreseen benchmarks, defined during the planning phase
1.2 – Evaluation of open data social participation, via virtual channels throughout the process
1.3 – Integrated information actions for mobilization and sensitization/Taking advantage of institutional channels, personal and virtual, for discussions about provided and requested open data
1.4 – Training for recognizing solvable problems, in themes (design thinking) – Ministries of Health, Environment, Justice and Citizenship, Culture, Education/ Identify, with the help of governmental agencies, concrete situations, which can be tackled with open data
1.5 – Systematization of information and problems perceived during training
1.6 – Identification of prospective data for alleviating problematic situations, assured the consensus among all actors
1.7 – Establishing a collective action agenda among the actors, for open data use
1.8 – Prioritization of two identified problems
1.9 – Implementation of two pilot experiments, with open data use, and with assured association between provided and requested data
Responsible institution: Ministry of Planning, Development and Management
Supporting institutions: Chamber of Deputies, Ministry of Justice and Citizenship, Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Government Secretariat, Group Public Policy Research on the access to information (GPOPAI-USP), Socioeconomic Studies Institute (INESC), Open Knowledge Brasil, Our Network São Paulo, W3C Brasil
Start date: December 2016.. End date: November 2018
Context and Objectives
In spite of the increasing supply of open data by the government, the use of these datasets by civil society organizations, journalists, and the private sector is low. The commitment aims to better align the government supply of open data with the demand for data by the public. To do this, the commitment will generate new open data processes that identify both civil society needs and government capacity.
The commitment addresses a frequent issue raised by civil society. The 2017 Abrelatam and Condatos open data events, for example, focused on the need to measure the impact and use of open data efforts. Beth Noveck of GovLab emphasized at the August 2017 event, 'Don’t tell me how many datasets you opened, tell me how many lives you improved and problems solved.'[1] Thiago Ávila, from the Open Knowledge Foundation, suggests—based on a McKinsey and Company report—that by 2020, 67 percent of all open data in the world will be useless for solving problems unless we address the needs of users and uses of open data procedures.[2]
The commitment has medium specificity. On the one hand, it outlines the ultimate aim of running two pilot experiments using open data. It also specifies a series of intermediate steps. Those steps include evaluating the channels for participation on issues of open data, conducting trainings on how to identify problems that can be solved with open data, and identifying the type of data that is necessary for solving problems through government and civil society consensus. On the other hand, the scope of the various deliverables is unclear, reducing the measurability of the overall commitment.
It should be noted that the government proposed a new version of the commitment milestones[3] in August 2017, with the approval of civil society. The government plans to use the updated version of the commitment for the rest of the implementation period. The new version includes as a final deliverable the same two pilot experiments. However, it also includes more consultation and collaborative processes (such as a survey and a data-sharing report), as well as a private-sector-sponsored award for the best innovation.
The commitment is relevant to the following OGP values: access to information, civic participation, and technology and innovation. It proposes both releasing new open data and involving citizens in the identification of priority datasets for release.
The commitment has a minor potential impact, as written. The release of datasets based on an initial identification of end-user demands constitutes an important rethinking of open data processes. However, pilot experiments are more likely to inspire future projects rather than produce a direct impact on open government, especially within a two-year period. A government representative (Augusto Herrmann) shared this viewpoint but acknowledged that the potential impact in the long term could be higher. Ultimately, the success of the commitment will depend on the selected pilot experiments, which will in turn depend on the quality of the prioritization process and the issues addressed.
Completion
The level of commitment completion is limited.
Milestones 1.1-1.5 were completed: the identification of the actors with the resources to achieve the milestones, the evaluation of social participation in the field of open data, the mobilization and awareness-raising activities, and the systematization of information were delivered. However, these milestones were not fulfilled as they were originally intended. Milestones 1.6-1.9 were not started as of mid-2017.
The government did, internally, propose a new set of milestones in July 2017. These milestones have not been submitted to OGP to be considered as formal milestones of the commitment. (Though they have been discussed with civil society counterparts during all monitoring meetings, there is still a need to submit them to OGP.)
The IRM assessment is based on the formal action plan submitted to OGP (and not on new and unofficial milestones). However, the commitment’s progress follows a slightly different pace under the proposed new milestones. The first proposed milestone closely mirrors milestones 1.2 and 1.3. It involves collecting information to identify key areas that could use more open datasets. To implement this milestone, the government developed a survey to identify civil society problems that can be solved with open data.[4] It also began an analysis of information requests by civil society representatives of Colab, a research center at the University of São Paulo that carries out research on access to information and transparency. The analysis has not been published as of the writing of this report. This information is being systematized and drafted as a report with the participation of civil society.[5]
Actions on the other four new milestones have not started. The government (Augusto Herrmann) and the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies (INESC, Carmela Zigoni)—both interviewed by the IRM researcher—confirmed this.
As written in the action plan, milestone 1.4 was planned to be delivered by October 2017, which puts the commitment currently behind schedule. As the government representative mentioned during the interview, the team responsible for the commitment changed—and has become smaller—since the start of the action plan. Consequently, the government needed to redesign the milestones and provide a more focused approach. Thus, the redesign delayed implementation. This information was confirmed by INESC, which was also interviewed by the IRM researcher.
Early Results (if any)
Based on the preliminary draft of the report on the nature of current information requests,[6] civil society primarily demands data related to public expenditures in health and education. Beyond this initial assessment, however, limited results have been achieved. The full picture of this commitment’s results will emerge once the pilot projects are implemented.
Next Steps
The commitment constitutes a first step toward promoting more effective open data policies and should continue to be implemented. The government should define other specific activities that align civil society needs with government open data plans and advance these efforts. These efforts can be advanced by building on existing and unused open datasets. Work should also be done to align civil society needs with the pro-active disclosure of other information and documents (not only datasets).
[1] Elza Maria Albuquerque and Natalia Mazotte, 'Look at the Problem and Measure the Impact: Key Findings at the Meeting of the Latin American Open Data Community,' Open Knowledge Brasil, 1 September 2017, https://br.okfn.org/2017/09/01/olhe-o-problema-e-meca-o-impacto-principais-achados-no-encontro-da-comunidade-latino-americana-de-dados-abertos/.
[2] Elza Maria Albuquerque and Thiago Avila, 'What Will We Do with the 40 Trillion Gigabytes of Data Available in 2020?' Open Knowledge Brasil, 29 September 2017, https://br.okfn.org/2017/09/29/o-que-faremos-com-os-40-trilhoes-de-gigabytes-de-dados-disponiveis-em-2020/.
[3] Ministerio da Transparencia, Fiscalizacao e Controladoria-Geral da Uniao, Relatorio de Status de Execucao de Compromisso, http://www.governoaberto.cgu.gov.br/central-de-conteudo/documentos/2017-30-agosto-rse_1.pdf.
[4] 'Questionario para Directionar os Esforcos do Governo Federal na Abertura de Dados,' Google Groups, 3 August 2017, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/inda-br/NnwFPtVFVjQ/I7KvDSysDQAJ.
[5] 'Ministerio do Planejamento, Desenvolvimento e Gestao,' Google Drive, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yId6y8n8AyVhYSKd1SqwRzNGXPqkJHqSDV1yikA0-do/edit.
[6] 'Ministerio do Planejamento, Desenvolvimento e Gestao,' Google Drive.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
1. Open Data on the Federal Government
Commitment Text:
Identify and implement mechanism for recognizing solvable or mitigable problems, upon the data presented by the government, which meets expectations from requesters and providers.
To raise government and society participation in discussions, in order to assure a bonding between open data requested from citizens and what is offered by the State, taking into account not only data, but IT tools as well and suitable ways of making information available. In order to implement this initiative, the commitment envisages carrying out communication activities aimed at society mobilization and sensitization, and making use of institutional channels for personal and virtual discussions about the theme.
More specifically, the commitment was set out to achieve the following milestones:
1.1 – Identification, among the parties involved in each action, the supplier of relevant resources, for enabling foreseen benchmarks, defined during the planning phase
1.2 – Evaluation of open data social participation, via virtual channels throughout the process
1.3 – Integrated information actions for mobilization and sensitization/Taking advantage of institutional channels, personal and virtual, for discussions about provided and requested open data
1.4 – Training for recognizing solvable problems, in themes (design thinking) – Ministries of Health, Environment, Justice and Citizenship, Culture, Education/ Identify, with the help of governmental agencies, concrete situations, which can be tackled with open data
1.5 – Systematization of information and problems perceived during training
1.6 – Identification of prospective data for alleviating problematic situations, assured the consensus among all actors
1.7 – Establishing a collective action agenda among the actors, for open data use
1.8 – Prioritization of two identified problems
1.9 – Implementation of two pilot experiments, with open data use, and with assured association between provided and requested data
Responsible institution: Ministry of Planning, Development and Management
Supporting institutions: Chamber of Deputies, Ministry of Justice and Citizenship, Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Government Secretariat, Group Public Policy Research on the access to information (GPOPAI-USP), Socioeconomic Studies Institute (INESC), Open Knowledge Brazil, Our Network São Paulo, W3C Brasil
Start Date: December 2016 End Date: November 2018
Commitment Aim:
The commitment aimed to better align the government supply of open data with public demand. To do this, the commitment planned to generate new open data processes that identify both civil society needs and government capacity.
Status
Midterm: Limited
The level of completion at midterm was limited and behind schedule. The government had completed Milestones 1.1–1.5. Those milestones involve the identification of actors with resources to achieve the milestones, the evaluation of social participation in the field of open data, mobilization and awareness-raising activities, and the systematization of information. However, the government did not fulfill these milestones as they were originally intended. Milestones 1.6–1.9 were not started as of mid-2017.
End of term: Substantial
Milestones 1.1–1.8 were completed, and the remaining milestone, 1.9, is underway (pending implementation of one of the two pilots, as originally planned). Therefore, the level of implementation is substantial.
Milestone 1.6 was completed. It involved the identification of open data for action, and the government published a report of the process results online in wiki format. [1] The wiki received 593 contributions. It provides a detailed view of areas that should be prioritized, which agencies should be involved, and other elements involved in policy problem definition. Two areas for possible open data, identified during the online consultation, were used in the next milestones to develop the pilot projects.
Milestone 1.7 and 1.8 involved establishing a collective action agenda among the commitment participating actors and defining solutions to be implemented in the two areas identified in Milestone 1.6, health and education. The government published online evidence of the activities that were designed and co-created. [2] It based this record on a February 2018 meeting that included a small group of contributors from government and civil society.
Milestone 1.9 involved the implementation of two pilot projects. The first pilot, addressing health policy problems, was completed. [3] The first challenge on public health data was carried out in Brasilia in 2018. It attracted more than 500 participants, and the winning team promoted a data visualization of human papillomavirus vaccination coverage in Brazil. [4] The other pilot was planned in partnership with the civil society organization Transparência Brasil. It involved monitoring the construction of public nurseries and and the government gave a presentation on the pilot’s status at the last Executive Committee Meeting of the National Infrastructure for Open Data in August 2018. [5]
Did It Open Government?
Access to Information: Marginal
Civic Participation: Marginal
The commitment aimed to better align the government supply of open data with public demand. The perceived status quo is that the use of open datasets was low. Such perceptions are based on the workshop meetings during the design of the commitment. One reason for the low use is that the push to open datasets was not connected with proper identification of the data needed.
The commitment aimed to promote two pilot studies, based on co-creation activities with civil society. Two pilots were designed, but only one was implemented.
The commitment resulted in the increase of open datasets. There was a change in government practice through the inclusion of civil society organizations in the decision-making process. Thus, advances in open government have been observed.
Government and civil society, however, have different views on the overall contributions of the commitment. The IRM researcher’s survey of commitment participants (see the Methodological Note section for details) showed that one government representative (Augusto Herrmann Batista, from the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Management) considered that the pilot undertaken in the health sector promoted new access to useful data. That representative considered the co-creation process with civil society a positive one. The civil society representative (Carmela Zigoni, from INESC), however, argued that neither this pilot nor the co-creation exercise changed the status quo. According to that representative’s argument, if the objective of the commitment was to align government supply of open data to demand, the pilot design did not clearly address it.
Despite these different positions, both sides suggest that the contribution of the commitment to open government is positive, although marginal. The opening of the datasets is a positive step, as are the co-creation workshops, although other institutional mechanisms of government and civil society collaboration were already in place in the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Management, who leads the commitment.
Carried Forward?
Brazil’s fourth national action plan did not carry over this commitment. However, the fourth plan includes a commitment promoting the use of open data across society and all levels of government.
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