Mapping and Participatory Management for Culture (BR0099)

Lead government institution Ministry of Culture Civil servant in charge for implementing at lead government institution Luiz Antônio Gouveia de Oliveira Position - Department General Coordinator/Coordination of Statistics and indicators for Culture E-mail luiz.gouveia@cultura.gov.br Telephone 55 61 2024 2262 Other involved actors Government Brazilian Institute of Museums Ministry of Culture Ministry of Tourism City Hall of São Paulo Culture Secretariat – Government of Federal District Civil society, private sector, group of workers and multilateral actors House of Networking NGO THYDÊWÁ - Potyra Te Tupinambá (Messages from Earth) Sectorial Collegiate of Music and Culture Thesaurus Workgroup Status quo or problem/issue to be addressed Difficulty in monitoring actions related to culture and the need of improving social participation mechanisms Main objective To improve management and social participation through the systematization and dissemination of cultural information Commitment short description To improve the data organization related to the management of culture in the country, and ensure social participation at the decision-making mechanisms of the cultural public policies OGP Challenge addressed by the Commitment Improving Public Services More effective public resources management Commitment relevance Relevant to improve the information quality on culture, enabling the civil society to control its results more effectively Goal Advancement in shared and participatory management of the generation, diffusion and shared use of data, information and performance indicators on culture

16. Mapping and Participatory Management for Culture

Commitment Text:

Consolidate the National System of Information and Indicators on Culture (SNIIC), for data generation, diffusion and shared use, information and performance indicators for the co-management of culture

The commitment intends to promote an advancement in shared and participatory management of the generation, diffusion and shared use of cultural data, information and performance indicators, improving the data organization related to the management of culture in the country, and ensure social participation at the decision-making mechanisms of the cultural public policies.

16.1 Criteria, standards and guidelines definitions, for promotion actions and, training on SNIIC platform for stakeholders

16.2 - Making of 200 actions, at least, for training stakeholders for data generation, diffusion and shared use, information and performance indicators, collaboratively

16.3 -SNIIC platform deployment on the different levels of government (60% in States and at least in 50 Brazilian municipalities)

16.4 - Thesaurus Building, in order to have standardized data

16.5 - SNIIC upgrading, customization and continuous development for data generation, diffusion and shared use, information and performance indicators, including budget

Responsible institution: Ministry of Culture

Supporting institutions: Brazilian Institute of Museums, Ministry of Tourism, City Hall of São Paulo, Culture Secretariat – Government of Federal District, House of Networking,

NGO THYDÊWÁ - Potyra Te Tupinambá (Messages from Earth), Sectorial Collegiate of Music and Culture Thesaurus Workgroup

Start date: December 2016 . End date: November 2018

Context and Objectives

As stated in the action plan, civil society in Brazil has difficulty monitoring actions related to cultural policies. To address this, the commitment intends to use participatory mechanisms to promote the diffusion and shared use of cultural data. It aims to improve not only access to information but also accountability for policies in this sector. The government expects to conduct stakeholder trainings on the National System of Information and Indicators on Culture (SNIIC) platform. SNIIC serves as the main repository of cultural policies and aims to be a hub of cultural programs and initiatives publicity in every city. The government also expects to deploy the platform at different levels of government (at least 60 percent of states and at least 50 municipalities). Other activities include building a thesaurus and including data customization tools on the portal.

Beyond the benefits of the commitment for access to cultural data, another clear driver for the initiative is greater public monitoring of cultural policies. Before 2017, Brazil had no dedicated portal for cultural policies, despite the existence of active datasets published in other open data portals and other fragmented initiatives.[1] There were, however, several cases of corruption involving benefits from cultural policies. In particular, this happened regarding the use of the Rouanet Law,[2] which provides tax incentives to businesses and individuals for cultural contributions. These kinds of irregularities could be better monitored by civil society through the SNIIC portal.[3] The Rouanet Law also received scrutiny for its lack of transparency, as evidenced by a poor rate of response to freedom of information requests.[4] As a result, the Ministry of Culture updated regulations applicable to the law in 2017, to better promote transparency and public accountability.[5]

The commitment’s specificity is high. It lists measurable activities and their reach (e.g., the number of state and municipalities that will receive the new portal and the number of trainings). By working directly with civil society on the disclosure of cultural data and information on policies, the commitment addresses the OGP values of access to information, civic participation, and use of technology and innovation.

The commitment has a moderate potential impact. On the one hand, the commitment focuses on preliminary steps, such as trainings on the existing SNIIC platform. On the other hand, the government foresees the expansion of the open data portal to at least 60 percent of states and 50 municipalities. Such expansion would be significant compared to the status quo. The government’s level of investment in cultural activities is significant, but the lack of awareness of sponsored activities is a major barrier for cultural consumption. Thus, having an updated public portal with cultural activities could increase public service consumption considerably.[6]

Completion

The commitment has seen limited completion.

The government has begun implementation of the National System of Information and Indicators on Culture (SNIIC) platform (milestone 16.3) at different levels of government. It has aimed for expansion to 60 percent of states and at least 50 Brazilian municipalities. As of August 2017, the platform was implemented in 37 percent of states and 23 cities.[7]

There is limited progress on the 200 trainings for data generation and usage (milestone 16.2). The official platform page lists only two recently executed activities: a small roundtable training in November 2016[8] and two larger events in March 2017. At the March event, about 70 participants from 10 states and 10 municipalities met to share experiences and discuss the expansion of cultural maps (one of the core pillars of the SNIIC portal).[9] In addition, an April 2017 workshop in São Paulo brought together about 60 researchers who discussed culture indicators and new ways to measure success.[10]

As for the upgrading of the SNIIC system for data generation, communication, and indicators (milestone 16.5), the implementation report[11] mentions that some minor functions have been added (e.g., a new Instagram link). However, the IRM tested the platform and could not identify these new functions.[12]

There is no visible progress on milestones 16.1 and 16.4. No records exist to indicate progress on the definition of criteria, standards, and guidelines (milestone 16.1). A working group launched thesaurus-building (milestone 16.4) activities in 2015,[13] but its most recent reports date back to July 2016,[14] prior to the start of this action plan.

The action plan set a completion date of October 2017 for Milestone 16.1, which puts the commitment behind schedule.

Early Results (if any)

The commitment aims to increase public integrity and better manage public resources by creating, disclosing, and using cultural data. These results are achievable if the commitment is fully implemented. However, it is important to note the National System of Information and Indicators on Culture (SNIIC) involves a policy program that predates the action plan. Most of the commitment milestones list activities that were due before the start of the action plan, including the portal and the capacity-building activities.

In addition, civil society members interviewed by the IRM researcher (Sebastian Gerlic and Neide de Sordi from Thydewa and the Open Knowledge Foundation, respectively) stated that some of the data used to feed into the SNIIC system is outdated and needs urgent attention. According to Sordi, the database of public libraries, for example – which is updated by city governments – is outdated and includes information on libraries that do not exist, or has libraries registed more than once. At the same time, she noted that other databases, such as that the museum database, are updated and contain reliable data.

Apart from those observations, the progress in commitment implementation is too limited to evaluate early results. The last entry of the news section of the portal, for example, is dated January 2017. In addition, the number of event entries in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are fewer than 10 per city.

Next Steps

The commitment still needs to be implemented. As next steps, it is key to address two limitations mentioned by the working group in the consultation phase: insufficient co-creation of data and fiscal transparency.[15] The National System of Information and Indicators on Culture (SNIIC) presents an important opportunity to bring transparency, civic participation, and public accountability to cultural policies. However, the commitment could achieve greater impact if it were to focus on usage of the SNIIC data by government and civil society, rather than on the expansion of the data.

16. Mapping and Participatory Management for Culture

Commitment Text:

Consolidate the National System of Information and Indicators on Culture (SNIIC), for data generation, diffusion and shared use, information and performance indicators for the co-management of culture.

The commitment intends to promote an advancement in shared and participatory management of the generation, diffusion and shared use of cultural data, information and performance indicators, improving the data organization related to the management of culture in the country, and ensure social participation at the decision-making mechanisms of the cultural public policies.

More specifically, the commitment was set out to achieve the following milestones:

16.1 – Criteria, standards and guidelines definitions, for promotion actions and, training on SNIIC platform for stakeholders

16.2 – Making of 200 actions, at least, for training stakeholders for data generation, diffusion and shared use, information and performance indicators, collaboratively

16.3 – SNIIC platform deployment on the different levels of government (60% in States and at least in 50 Brazilian municipalities)

16.4 – Thesaurus Building, in order to have standardized data...............................................

16.5 – SNIIC upgrading, customization and continuous development for data generation, diffusion and shared use, information and performance indicators, including budget

Responsible institution: Ministry of Culture

Supporting institutions: Brazilian Institute of Museums, Ministry of Tourism, City Hall of São Paulo, Culture Secretariat – Government of Federal District, House of Networking, NGO THYDÊWÁ - Potyra Te Tupinambá (Messages from Earth), Sectorial Collegiate of Music and Culture Thesaurus Workgroup

Start Date: December 2016...                         End Date: November 2018

Commitment Aim:

There are few databases detailing the cultural activities of subnational administrations that are available online, updated, and geolocalized. To address this gap, the government has launched a portal that uses participatory mechanisms to collect and publish cultural events data from every city. The commitment aimed to enhance this portal, known as the System of Information and Indicators on Culture, by providing stakeholder training on how to use the portal.

Status

Midterm: Limited

The commitment saw limited completion and was behind schedule. The completion of Milestones 16.2, 16.3, and 16.5 was limited. These milestones involved training activities for data generation and usage (16.2), implementation of indicators on a digital platform (16.3), and the upgrading of the system for data generation, communication, and indicators (16.5). Milestones 16.1 and 16.4 were not completed.

End of term: Limited

Milestone 16.2 was completed. Milestones 16.3–16.5 were partially completed. Milestone 16.1 was not completed. Thus, the commitment has limited completion.

Milestone 16.2 involved at least 200 training opportunities for stakeholders. This training included capacity-building activities for 1,500 culture coordinators and municipal culture councils. It also involved SESC São Paulo (Serviço Social do Comércio) [108] capacity-building events including civil society members [109] and events at the Brazilian Museum Institute, in particular. The IRM researcher could not independently verify these events.

Milestone 16.3 resulted in the platform’s implementation in at least 60 percent of states (n=16) and at least 50 Brazilian municipalities. The milestone is partially completed, as it has been implemented in 12 states, 37 cities, and five federal agencies. [110]

Milestone 16.4 involved the development of a glossary that addresses most common terms used in the platform, to increase coding consistency. The government stated that it published a “Glossary of Culture,” [111] which promotes system summaries of statistics and data in a standardized way.

Milestone 16.5 involved upgrading the System of Information and Indicators on Culture, including not only data generation, but also diffusion of use and budget allocation. The government mentioned that a ministerial decree was issued to promote such activity (Decree 27/2018). It also reported that the web portal was updated (with a release date scheduled for the post-electoral period, due to legislative restrictions). The content of the website dates from 2016, although fresh material was found on the website as well. [112]

Milestone 16.1 involved pre-deployment planning material. No public record exists for the IRM researcher to verify the milestone’s completion. Government reports do not mention such material, and due to the limitations of verifying it, it is considered not completed.

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Marginal

Civic Participation: Marginal

The commitment aimed to use participatory mechanisms to promote the diffusion and shared use of cultural data, including the promotion and use of the System of Information and Indicators on Culture platform. Felipe de Souza Camargo, from the Ministry of Culture, stated that the platform promoted data transparency. This indicates progress to improve the status quo. The government also highlighted that citizens can submit content to the portal, which creates an opportunity for civic participation and interaction with other citizens.

At the time of the writing of this report, the portal featured 55,000 contributors and 12,000 site events, and 16,000 projects were uploaded by users. The IRM researcher tested the platform, and at the national level, there were 116 activities open. The content displayed online, as well as the possibility for civil society to use the portal to submit their own information, constitutes an improvement in transparency and civic participation. Nonetheless, considering that the portal was in use before the start of the action plan, and that there is no evidence of improvement, the IRM researcher considers the advances in open government to be marginal.

Carried Forward?

This commitment is not included in the fourth action plan. Due to the limited the completion of the commitment, the government should continue the implementation of Milestone 16.3, to reach, at least, 60 percent of states and 50 Brazilian municipalities. Also, it is critical that the government include the other information planned for the platform, such as an allocated budget.