Information flows in e-participation applications implications in government service-delivery in Brazil

摘要

When citizens voice their opinions online they produce a large quantity of information, which represent citizen's knowledge about their cities. This information has been used by public and private organizations to understand and support citizens' needs with the help of Participatory Citizenship Technologies (PCTs). PCTs are projects and applications involving Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which help to gather, create and share information about urban issues (such as pot holes, dislocated garbage, report violent situations, etc.). PCTs have helped to raise awareness and solve problems in the city by mediating information and knowledge between citizens, the private and the public sector. However, our understanding about the nature of these platforms in developing countries is still limited. In this research I begin to explore Brazilian PCTs and their impact in government service delivery by analyzing the information flows between citizens and governments in existing PCTs in Brazil. The anticipated outcomes of this research are a description of the level of participation Brazilian PCTs foster, which PCTs provide improvements in public service delivery, an analysis of the information and knowledge flows in the PCTs, and which kinds of information and knowledge flows allow for improvements in public service delivery.