IDB Publishes Novel Data on Use of Digital Public Services in Brazil

A study conducted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) involving 2000 interviews throughout Brazil presents novel data about Brazilians’ connectivity, access to digital devices, and digital skills, in addition to analyzing patterns of interaction with public services. The aim of this research is to help eliminate gaps in access to digital services.

According to the study Use of Digital Services, a Snapshot of Brazil (available in Portuguese,) 42.8% of government service users said they accessed at least one digital service during the preceding year. This percentage varies significantly between population segments: people with a lower level of education or who are older or have a disability tend to use digital channels less (between 22.1% and 26.3%).

The e-government services used most frequently are related to health, like Conecte SUS, or identification (voter ID card, national ID card, etc.), or services for drivers (driver’s licenses, fines, vehicle title transfers). People who access the internet daily, have a computer at home, and are confident of their digital skills use digital services more frequently.

The study also finds that 77.1% of those who used digital services considered the experience easy or very easy.
Meanwhile, 57.2% of interviewees still prefer in-person channels, even when a digital option is available. Reasons for this propensity include a lack of experience with digital services, uncertainty about the validity of digital services, and a preference for social interaction. The research also found that despite this preference, the costs of in-person channels are high, at R$59.74 per transaction versus R$6.64 for digital services.

“This study helps tackle the challenge of making digital services more inclusive and accessible for everyone, everywhere, all the time,” stressed Mariano Lafuente, Principal State Modernization Specialist at the IDB. “That’s why we need deeper knowledge about how different population groups interact with these services, and this survey, conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services, was created to meet this need,” he added.

Adapting to the digital world

The study found that almost 85% of Brazilians used the internet daily. Use was almost universal among people ages 18 to 34, even those with lower education and income levels. Those who do not use the internet every day are predominantly people over age 55 and with lower levels of education.

The research also revealed that women are more online: 88.0% reported using the internet daily, as opposed to 81.4% of men. However, men have more self-confidence in their digital skills than women (feeling confident about 51.3% of the digital skills analyzed, compared to 44.3% for women).

Overall, Brazilians feel confident about only half of the digital skills covered in the survey, which included installing apps, selecting keywords for searches, sending emails with attachments, digitalizing documents, and identifying true or false information. Regarding access to devices, 94.2% of participants said they had access to cell phones at home, while only 33.7% said they had a computer.

The study also explored people’s financial ability to get online. Of those who use mobile internet, 36% said they had maxed out their data plan and lost access to the internet at least once in the three months before the study.

The panorama offered by this study should help all levels of government develop digital governance policies that are inclusive from their inception. The study is a starting point for a regional publication on the same topic, which will be published by the IDB this year. It will cover the other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Based on the data, the study highlights specific policymaking implications, such as multichannel approaches to better serve citizens, investing in digital skills programs, developing public services that can be delivered by cell phone, and greater coordination between the federal government, the states, and municipalities to make the process of digitalizing services more equal.