Online municipal services have been in high demand across Brazil in recent years, driven mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing. The 2022 Digital Government Map study indicates that the vast majority of city halls identified a rise in demand for online municipal services in Brazil since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the survey, carried out in partnership by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and the Ministry of Economy’s Digital Government Secretariat (SGD/ME), 94% of the managers of 155 municipalities in all regions of the country and with more than 200,000 inhabitants have noticed an increase in demand in recent years.
According to technology director Carlos Henrique Vieira, from SMAR APD, which operates in the development of ERP systems for public management, the convenience and agility in resolving bureaucratic issues may also have been factors that led more people to use these services. .
“City halls – and the public service in general – have invested in improvements in online service portals, seeking to offer more and more options to citizens and make processes more efficient and accessible. This scenario shows that the demand for online municipal services will only tend to grow, as more citizens adopt technology as a way of interacting with public authorities”, comments the manager.
Vieira also analyzes that issues such as the Single and Integrated System of Budget Execution, Financial Administration and Control (SIAFIC), which seeks to centralize and facilitate the availability of data from public entities, will further encourage these new services.
Currently, among the services most sought following by citizens on municipal portals are the issuance of payment slips (such as IPTU and ISS), consultation of processes and requirements, request for public services (such as tree pruning and garbage collection), appointment scheduling in person and information regarding the city.
Other municipal services that have been in high demand are those related to urban mobility, such as issuing public transport cards and consulting bus schedules, and those related to issuing documents, such as duplicate water and electricity bills. .
“Our demands for development and the interests of municipalities in digital solutions have grown dramatically since 2020. As an example, the digital process system grew in demand by more than 100% following the pandemic, and the system for managing the scheduling of visits to public departments/bodies became a constant search for our customers following the pandemic”, he reinforces.
Technology as an ally – With the increasing demand for online municipal services, it is important that city halls are prepared to meet this growing demand and offer quality services to citizens. Technology can be a great ally in this process, making processes more efficient and providing a better experience for users.
Despite the increase in demand for digital public services, there are still challenges to be faced in ensuring that these services are efficient and accessible to all. The work carried out by Brazil in the provision of digital public services was recognized in the Electronic Government Survey 2020, published by the United Nations (UN). The country climbed two spots and is now 20th out of 193 nations on the Online Services Index (OSI). Therefore, it is important for governments to continue investing in technology and training public servants to ensure that citizens can access municipal services quickly and efficiently.
And to be agile and efficient, the specialist comments that it is the role of software development companies to help in this change, which is cultural.
“Companies that develop software for online municipal services can significantly contribute to improving the quality and accessibility of these services. We can highlight the search for simplifying and reducing the bureaucracy of the systems, in addition to supporting the training of users, public servants, both in the tool and in updating the legislation and norms that involve public management. By sharing knowledge, we can extract more from the available systems, in addition to thinking regarding better ways to meet the demand for digital solutions and, in this way, promote a cultural change. We must ultimately positively impact those who need it most: the citizen”, he evaluates.
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