This blog has been written by Natalia Mazotte and Ariel Kogan, co-directors of Open Knowledge Brazil (OKBR). It has been translated from the original version at https://br.okfn.org/2017/12/29/como-foi-o-ano-de-2017-para-a-okbr by Juliana Watanabe, volunteer of OKBR.
For us at Open Knowledge Brazil (OKBR), the year 2017 was filled with multiple partnerships, support and participation in events; projects and campaigns for mobilisation. In this blog we selected some of these highlights. Furthermore, newsflash for the team: the journalist Natália Mozatte, that was already leading Escola de Datos (School of Data) in Brazil, became co-director with Ariel Kogan (executive director since July 2016).
Mobilisation
At the beginning of the year, OKBR and several other organizations introduced the Manifest for Digital Identification in Brazil. The purpose of the Manifest is to be a tool for society to take a stand towards the privacy and safety of personal data of citizens and turn digital identification into a safe, fair and transparent action.
We monitored one of the main challenges in the city of São Paulo and contributed to the mobilisation for this. Along with other civil society organisations, we urged the City Hall of São Paulo for transparency regarding mobility. The reason: on 25 January 2017, the first day of the new increase to the speed limits on Marginais Pinheiros and Tietê, we noticed several news items about the decrease in traffic accidents linked to the policy of reducing speed in certain parts of the city was unavailable on the site of the Traffic Engineering Company (CET).
For a few months, we conducted a series of webinars called OKBR Webinars Serires, about open knowledge of the world. We had the participation of the following experts: Bart Van Leeuwen, entrepreneur; Paola Villareal, Fellow from the Berkman Klein Center, designer/data scientist; Fernanda Campagnucci, journalist and analyst of public policies and Rufus Pollock, founder of Open Knowledge International.
We took part in a major victory for society! Along with the Movimento pela Transparência (PartidáriaMovement for Partisan Transparency), we conducted a mobilisation against the rapporteur’s proposal for a political reform, congressman Vicente Cândido (PT-SP), about hidden contributions from the campaign and the result was very positive. Besides us, a variety of organisations and movements took part in this initiative against hidden donations,: we published and handed out a public statement. The impact was huge: as a consequence, the rapporteur announced the withdrawal of secret donations.
We also participated in #NãoValeTudo, a collective effort to discuss the correct use of technology for electoral purposes along with AppCívico, o Instituto Update, o Instituto Tecnologia e Equidad.
Projects
We performed two cycles of OpenSpending. The first cycle initiated in January and involved 150 municipalities. In July, we published the report of cycle 1. In August, we started the second cycle of the game with something new: Guaxi, a robot which was the digital assistant to competitors. It is an expert bot developed with innovative chatbot technology, simulating human interaction with the users. This made the journey through the page of OpenSpending on Facebook easier. The report of the second cycle is available here.
Together with the Board of Assessment of Public Policies from FGV/DAPP we released the Brazilian edition of the Open Data Index (ODI). In total, we built three surveys: Open Data Index (ODI) Brazil, at the national level and ODI São Paulo and ODI Rio de Janeiro, at the municipal level. Months later, we ended the survey “Do you want to build the index of Open Data of your city?” and the result was pretty positive: 216 people have shown an interest to do the survey voluntarily in their town!
In this first cycle of decentralization and expansion of the ODI in the Brazilian municipality, we conducted an experiment with the first group: Arapiraca/AL, Belo Horizonte/MG, Bonfim/RR, Brasília/DF, Natal/RN, Porto Alegre/RS, Salvador/BA, Teresina/PI, Uberlândia/MG, Vitória/ES. We offered training for the local leaders, provided by the staff of the Open Data Index (FGV/DAPP – OKBR) so that they can accomplish the survey required to develop the index. In 2018, we’ll show the results and introduce the reports with concrete opportunities for the town move forward on the agenda of transparency and open data.
We launched LIBRE – a project of microfinance for journalism – a partnership from Open Knowledge Brazil and Flux Studio, with involvement from AppCivico too. It is a microfinance content tool that aims to bring a digital tool to the public that is interested in appreciating and sustaining journalism and quality content. Currently, some first portals are testing the platform in a pilot phase.
Events
We supported the events of Open Data Day in many Brazilian cities, as well as the Hackathon da Saúde (Health Hackathon), an action of the São Paulo City Hall in partnership with SENAI and AppCívico, and participated in the Hack In Sampa event at the City Council of São Paulo.
Natália Mazotte, co-director of OKBR, participated in AbreLatam and ConDatos, annual events which have become the main meeting point regarding open data in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a time to talk about the status and the impact in the entire region. We also participated in the 7th edition of the Web forum in Brazil with the workshop “Open patterns and access to information: prospects and challenges of the government open data”. Along with other organizations, we organized the Brazilian Open Government meeting.
The School of Data, in partnership with Google News Lab, organised the second edition of the Brazilian Conference of Journalism of Data and Digital Methods (Coda.Br). We were one of the partner organisations for the first Course of Open Government for leadership in Weather, Forest and Farming, initiated by Imaflora and supported by the Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA).
We were the focal point in the research “Foundations of the open code as social innovators in emerging economies: a case study in Brazil”, from Clément Bert-Erboul, a specialist in economic sociology and the teacher Nicholas Vonortas.
And more to come in 2018
We would like to thank you to follow and take part of OKBR in 2017. We’re counting on you in 2018. Beyond our plan for the next year, we have the challenge and the responsibility to contribute in the period of the elections so that Brazil proceeds on the agendas of transparency, opening public information, democratic participation, integrity and the fight against corruption.
If you want to stay updated on the news and the progress of our projects, you can follow us on our Blog, Twitter and Facebook.
A wonderful 2018 for all of us!
The Open Knowledge Brazil team.
Open Knowledge Brazil wants a world where free knowledge is present in our daily lives, both online and offline. We promote free knowledge by believing in its ability to generate great social benefits.
