Impacts of digital transformation and neo-cities span diverse sectors of society
*By Prof. Dr. Regiane Relva Romano
We are going through a very complex, challenging period, full of great opportunities! The post-pandemic period has intensified the Digital Transformation that is revolutionizing the way we live, socialize, work, study and interact. This transformation involves profound changes and involves cultural, strategic, social, environmental, organizational and technological aspects, causing companies, businesses and cities to need to review their processes in an innovative way to deliver value to their customers and/or citizens, improving their experience at all points of contact, which is called omnichannel.
Digital Transformation automates bureaucratic processes and brings several direct benefits to Citizens, such as easier access to public services (scheduling medical appointments and exams, issuing documents, paying taxes, information on means of transport); improving urban mobility through intelligent traffic control and public transport management systems (aimed at reducing congestion and improving urban travel); providing open data (promoting greater transparency); intelligent monitoring through cameras and sensors, in order to respond quickly to accidents and prevent incidents; implementing public lighting systems that allow for automatic dimming and adjustment based on the presence of people and vehicles, increasing safety and saving energy; online ombudsman so that citizens can participate more actively in political decision-making and public management; implementing selective collection and recycling, minimizing environmental impact; adopting digital technologies such as automation, cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, among others, with a view to improving the citizen experience.
As can be seen, the impacts of digital transformation encompass several sectors of society, such as Economy (creating new business models and market opportunities); New Forms of Work (with AI, new professions are being created and others will be eliminated, requiring constant retraining of the workforce); Education (enabling access to knowledge in a more flexible and personalized way); Health (such as telehealth, telemedicine, AI-assisted diagnostics, access to electronic medical records, among others); Urban Mobility; Public Security, that is, Digital Transformation can create a more efficient, transparent and citizen-centered public administration, promoting a more modern and inclusive society.
It is closely related to the concepts of Human, Smart and Sustainable Cities, whose focus is to place human beings at the center of urban planning and development, applying information and communication technologies to improve their quality of life; prioritizing health; social inclusion; comprehensive education; valuing local culture; encouraging creativity; sustainability; fostering the circular economy; ultimately, creating a more balanced, healthy and resilient urban environment, ensuring a better future for the next generations, who can be called neo-citizens, that is, modern and digitally connected citizens, who use technologies to interact with the government and society in a more efficient and participatory way; since the term “neo” is a prefix of Greek origin that means “new” and is often used to indicate a version or an update of something existing.
If previously, citizen services were provided in person, today new citizens require support through multiple channels, such as: social networks, applications, websites, telephones, emails, mobile and wearable devices; portals, emergency lines such as SAMU (192), Fire Department (193) and Military Police (190); among others, which require immediate integration, online and in real time.
All this transformation will allow the birth of “neo-cities”, which combine advanced technologies with a greater focus on sustainability, social inclusion and quality of life for citizens and will require the interoperability of the municipality’s technological solutions, ending digital silos, making public services “figital” – combining physical and digital channels, providing the “omnichannel” of city halls, that is, the integration of several service and communication points, to offer a more cohesive and efficient experience to neo-citizens, who can start a service on one channel and finish it on another, without the loss of data or the need for repetition, contributing to a more connected, inclusive, effective and sustainable society.
This entire process will give rise to neo-governance, which refers to a new approach to public governance, integrating principles of transparency, citizen participation, efficiency and the use of advanced technologies, promoting the co-creation of public policies through the use of digital platforms for consultations and voting and the implementation of innovative solutions to improve the accessibility of services offered to citizens, promoting the involvement of different actors in the creation of public value and partnerships between the government, private sector, non-governmental organizations and civil society, to solve complex problems jointly.
To this end, Brazil has some guidelines that encourage this development, such as the new Digital Transformation Policy, which is guided by the Federal Digital Government Strategy (EFGD), which was established by Decree No. 12,198 of September 24, 2024 for the period 2024 to 2027. This strategy aims to transform the federal public administration through the use of technologies, making services simpler, more accessible and efficient for all citizens, regardless of their location or socioeconomic status; to promote innovation, competitiveness, productivity and social inclusion in Brazil.
The EFGD has some important initiatives, such as the Gov.br Portal, which enables the centralization of federal services on a single platform; the Single Digital Identity to facilitate access to public services; the development of a robust and secure Digital Infrastructure and the encouragement of citizen participation in the formulation of public policies through digital platforms.
For all this transformation to occur, investments and policies will be necessary to encourage the development of national businesses, as is the case with the Industrial Policy, called NIB – New Brazilian Industry, launched in 2024, with goals and actions to guide the country until 2033, aiming to strengthen Brazilian industry, making it more competitive.
However, on the other hand, it will bring great challenges to the municipality, such as robust cybersecurity measures; protection of citizens' data; maintenance of citizens' privacy; creation of a technological infrastructure that will require considerable investments for its implementation and maintenance; training to reduce digital inequality; working on employees' resistance to changes from traditional to digital processes, which will directly impact the organizational culture and the service provided to new citizens.
In this way, the digital transformation of the Government and cities will go far beyond the simple digitalization of public processes. It will involve a profound change in the way they operate and deliver value to their citizens, reducing errors, increasing efficiency, innovation, generating new business models and personalizing the citizen experience; becoming a powerful force that is shaping the future, but which will need to be carried out with great ethics and respect for rights and privacy, so that it does not become a major problem instead of a solution that can place Brazil as one of the protagonists of digital government on the world stage.
*Professor Dr. Regiane Relva Romano is a researcher at the ABES Think Tank, director of Smart Cities at Facens and director of innovation at VIP-Systems.
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
Article originally published on the IT Forum website https://itforum.com.br/colunas/transformacao-digital-impacto-neocidades/
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