Title: Transparency and open data in the classroom: a pedagogical exercise to construct civic awareness about access to public digital data in Brazil

Authors: Cristian Berrio-Zapata; Ricardo Cesar Goncalves Santana

Addresses: Postgraduate Programme in Information Science PGCIN, Centro de Ciências da Educação CCE, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina UFSC, Campus Universitário, s/n., Bairro: Trindade, CEP: 88.040-900, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil ' Postgraduate Programme in Information Science PGCI, Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências FFC, Universidade Estadual Paulista UNESP, Campus Universitário Marília, Av. Hygino Muzzi Filho 737, Bairro: Mirante, CEP: 17.525-000, Marília, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract: This paper presents the pedagogical experience of the open data administration course whose acronym in Portuguese is 'ATADA', at UNESP, Brazil. After some theoretical explanations about data transparency limitations in the day-to-day of the citizen, we present this experience based in Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of Autonomy. Brazilians seem not to have yet a clear perspective on this topic, or the necessary awareness to test the real existence of transparency and openness in their life. ATADA course was designed to introduce students in the field using participatory action research (PAR), creating research communities. In doing so, ATADA research communities reviewed 19 cases of Public Data into Brazilian e-government sites. The results of the two first versions of ATADA, developed in 2011 and 2012, are presented as well as two concepts produced to describe our findings regarding open access and data transparency: the 'minimum legal bureaucratic template' and 'data opacity'.

Keywords: data transparency; open data; open access; e-literacy; i-literacy; ICT; information and communications technologies; ICT; information technology; Paulo Freire; pedagogy of autonomy; PAR; participatory action research; e-government; electronic government; civic awareness; public data; digital data; Brazil; research communities; higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2015.074330

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2015 Vol.7 No.4, pp.313 - 332

Accepted: 30 Sep 2015
Published online: 22 Jan 2016 *

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