Digital Commons and Citizen Coproduction in Smart Cities: Assessment of Brazilian Municipal E-Government Platforms

Abstract

Good governance practices through electronic government (eGov) platforms can be suitable instruments for strengthening the outcomes of smart city policies. While eGov is the application of information and communication technologies to public services, good governance defines how well public authorities manage public and social resources. Contemporary public management views, such as ‘new public service’, include citizen participation as a critical factor to sustainable government in smart cities. Public services, in the age of digital technology, need to not only be delivered through eGov platforms, but also need to be coproduced with the engagement of social players, e.g., citizens. In this sense, eGov platforms act as digital commons, and conceived as digital spaces, where citizens and public agents interact and collaborate. In this paper, we presented the Municipal eGov Platform Assessment Model (MEPA), which is a model specifically developed to evaluate eGov platforms regarding their potential to promote commons in smart cities. The study applied MEPA to 903 municipal websites across Brazil. The results revealed that the majority of investigated Brazilian eGov platforms have only a low level of digital commons maturity. This finding discloses less citizenship coproduction, and fewer opportunities for city smartness. As the MEPA model offers public authorities an instrument to depict weaknesses and strengths of municipal eGov platforms, its adoption provides an opportunity for authorities to plan and manage their platforms to act as promoters of digital commons and citizen coproduction.