During an online event with representatives from 68 countries, experts reiterated how important inclusive digital transformation and international collaboration are to the global adoption of digital solutions.
Brasil has made significant progress in the digital transformation of public services, standing out with initiatives such as Gov.Br, which has 156 million registered users and offers more than 90% of federal services online. Initiatives such as the VLibras platform are an example of Brasil's commitment to promoting digital inclusion, offering automated translation of digital text into Libras, and facilitating access for people living with disabilities.
During his participation in the online workshop "Digital Government and Inclusion"-promoted by Brasil's Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services [Ministério da Gestão e da Inovação em Serviços Públicos] and National School of Public Administration [Escola Nacional de Administração Pública] and by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-Digital Gov.Br advisor Ciro Avelino emphasized the importance of governments being aware of the barriers that prevent access to public services and offering immediate solutions to overcome these inequalities.
Regarding data sharing for the effectiveness of public services, Digital Nation managing partner and former CIO of the Estonian government Siim Sikkut asked: "Are government organizations preparing for this? Do we need training? How can we offer this support? Or do we need to unify all platforms?" To Sikkut, data sharing must evolve into a transformation in services, requiring organizational preparation with aligned policies and legislation. These elements must progress harmoniously to facilitate the effective implementation of data sharing.
Dataprev president Rodrigo Assumpção highlighted the importance of building a national data infrastructure that involves government or public sector control, and civil society and private sector elements. He emphasized that, after consolidating this infrastructure, the next step is to strengthen public policies that depend on this data, ensuring that it is available for economic purposes, research-and to provide essential information to society.
Diversity as a strategy towards inclusive design
Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) and professor at the Faculty of Design at OCAD University in Toronto, Jutta Treviranus presented the urgent need to deeply rethink inclusive participation in society. She emphasized that diversity is a valuable resource in the design of digital tools, while inclusion represents a significant challenge. Treviranus argued that it is crucial to explore new approaches-beyond conventional practices by governments, companies and academic institutions which often prioritize scalability and market efficiency over the true complexity and variety of human needs.
Using multidimensional models, Treviranus compared these complex dynamics to cosmic landscapes, where 80% of needs are concentrated in the center of the space, while the rest are distributed on the periphery. This pattern, known as the 80/20 rule, reveals how many systems are designed to meet only central needs, ignoring the diverse needs that lie outside the priority axis. "AI operates based on preexisting patterns, amplifying and automating already existing discriminations; I consider this statistical discrimination," she said.
She emphasized that diversity is a valuable resource in the design of digital tools, while inclusion represents a significant challenge. Treviranus argued that it is crucial to explore new approaches-beyond conventional practices by governments, companies and academic institutions which often prioritize scalability and market efficiency over the true complexity and variety of human needs.
Global digital pact
UN Technical Envoy Amandeep Gill unveiled negotiations for a global digital pact at the Summit of the Future in New York, in September. "We want to build an inclusive, open, and sustainable digital future, but it will not happen automatically. It will require digital collaboration and cooperation." Gill emphasized the importance of connectivity, highlighting the need to integrate the 2.7 billion people who are disconnected from the Internet, and to create infrastructure that reduces barriers and makes the digital economy more inclusive. Gill also stressed that data "is the lifeblood of the digital economy," emphasizing the need to invest in data infrastructure; to protect data and individual privacy; and to facilitate the use of data through appropriate arrangements.
