Niterói launches Digital Rights Guide in Local Governments during webinar

The launch of the Guide ‘Digital Rights in Local Governments’ took place this Thursday morning (9) during a webinar broadcast on YouTube. The material was produced with the aim of providing solutions to prevent inequalities from occurring during the digital transformation of services, in addition to presenting actions that can be taken to guarantee people’s digital rights in accessing technologies. Prepared by the Secretariat for Planning, Budget and Management Modernization in partnership with UN-Habitat and InternetLab, the guide can now be accessed at: https://abrir.link/DihBN

Participating in the webinar were the director of the School of Government and Management, Grazielle Barreto, the Director of Digital Services at the Subsecretariat for Digital Government of SEPLAG, Daniel Gaspar, the Coordinator of the Niterói Innovation Laboratory, Luiz Monteiro, the Specialist in Technology and Innovation at Onu-Habitat, Livia Schaeffer, and the Research Coordinator on Privacy and Surveillance at InternetLab, Bárbara Simão.

Participants explored the importance of user research and service redesigns to meet the needs of vulnerable populations, as well as transparency, which is an essential element in promoting trust and accountability in local governments. Challenges and best practices were presented to protect users’ privacy, ensure the security of their data and comply with privacy regulations in a constantly evolving digital environment.

“To expand access to the Services Portal, we held a workshop aimed especially at the elderly population, aiming to strengthen their confidence in the digital world, among other initiatives. With the availability of this guide, our commitment to this debate and concern remains, which is why we propose a series of digital public service initiatives to improve the quality of service offered by local governments, with the aim of extending these actions to other locations”, stated Marcelo Zander.

InternetLab’s Privacy and Surveillance research coordinator, Bárbara Simão, highlighted that as new technologies advance, governments must be attentive and constantly updated. According to her, the guide promotes awareness and concrete actions to protect citizens’ rights in a constantly evolving digital world.

“We have been working for some time on topics such as smart cities, digital rights and digitalization of services. This partnership made us very happy and we are happy with the result. We have direct and incisive teaching material on important points when we think about the digitalization of services integrated with the promotion of human rights and citizenship. We hope that this initiative will drive positive changes for future projects and other cities interested in implementing the digitalization of services”, she said.

Onu-Habitat’s Technology and Innovation specialist, Livia Schaeffer Nonose, emphasized that the guide is the result of extensive work on behalf of citizens who use public services.

“This is work that represents very well the approach of centering people in this process of digital transformation, which focuses on the use of technology based on people’s real needs, and focuses a lot on digital inclusion, so that they have access to the use of devices and ability to use services. Therefore, the guide shows how to integrate and localize human rights at the city level and also serves as inspiration for other governments. Examples like Niterói also contribute to discussions on global technology governance, for example, in the development of international guidelines for smart cities, led by UN-Habitat», she added.

After its launch, the guide was presented to the Municipal Science and Technology Council (COMCITEC). The complete webinar can be accessed via the Niterói School of Government and Management (EGG) channel via the link: https://abrir.link/xswrv