Do Transparency and Open Data Walk Together? An Analysis of Initiatives in Five Brazilian Capitals

Abstract

In the last few years, Brazilian municipal governments have launched their open data web portals. These initiatives have been taking place as part of the implementation of the Transparency Act, which sets forth deadlines and punishments concerning the adoption and performance of steps that focus on government transparency, such as the presence of transparency portals. Accordingly, this paper aims to check whether municipalities that keep portals with higher a Digital Transparency Index (DTI) will also prove to have the strongest open data initiatives. In order to achieve this goal we assess the official portals and open data initiatives in five Brazilian capitals by using the methodologies proposed by Paula Amorim (2012), and the prerequisites pointed out by the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF, 2011), and Tim Berners-Lee (2010). The results indicate that there is no direct relationship between the Digital Transparency Index and the strength of open data actions in each municipality. The discussion of the results points to the absence of a concise public policy on digital democracy that is able to promote transparency and government data simultaneously.