Title: IT governance in the Brazilian central government: developments and constraints

Authors: Waldemiro Francisco Sorte Junior

Addresses: Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management, Ministries Esplanade, Block C, 1st floor, Room 146, 70046-900, Brasilia-DF, Brazil

Abstract: This paper is based on a case study conducted from October 2011 to August 2012 in the Secretariat for Logistics and Information Technology (SLTI) of the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management in Brazil. SLTI was successful in improving IT governance in the central government from the mid-2000s onwards, through the adoption of initiatives focused on: 1) enacting, disseminating and enforcing rules and regulations; 2) human resources training and skill development; 3) providing technical assistance through consultancies. The Secretariat effectively disseminated throughout public bodies of the central government the importance of establishing IT committees, conducting IT procurement planning and designing an IT strategy. Nonetheless, this study also shows a number of drawbacks that need to be addressed to further improve IT governance in the Brazilian central government. Particularly, it is necessary to increase the participation of non-IT management staff in the IT committees as a way of promoting greater alignment between IT strategies and organisational objectives and to intensify communication exchange between IT divisions in order to avoid duplication of procurement procedures and inefficient allocation of financial and human resources.

Keywords: information technology; IT governance; central government; e-government; e-procurement; electronic government; electronic procurement; Brazil; human resources; training; skill development; human resource development; HRD; rules and regulations; technical assistance; consultancy; strategy alignment; communication.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPL.2014.061638

International Journal of Technology Policy and Law, 2014 Vol.1 No.4, pp.335 - 349

Published online: 02 Jul 2014 *

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