Uma experiência de desenvolvimento aberto e colaborativo de ambientes virtuais de participação social na UNIRIO

Abstract

The Brazilian society and the Brazilian Public Administration look for deep transformations in the management of public affairs, to make it more effective and realiable. Government practices related to social participation supported by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are seen as an alternative to make public institutions more democratic, effective and responsive to the demands of society. Although several initiatives of social participation with the use of Information Systems (IS), also called Social Participation Virtual Environments (SPVE), are being conceived and tried, social participation in the context of several public institutions is still reduced or even nonexistent. The challenge is how to expand this practice, transforming organizational culture in relation to social participation. UNIRIO, as a public university is expected to be a democratic and participative space. However, it is an example where social participation, especially with the use of technologies is little or practically unexplored in its community experience. The aim of this work was to conduct an action research within UNIRIO, aiming to broaden the social participation within the university community with the use of SPVE. The action research was conducted in the context of a organization innovation project and comprised an open and collaborative development event - the first UNIRIO Hackathon - aimed at the development of institutional SPVE and the promotion of internal participatory practice. This research made possible the understanding of which steps and activities should be developed during a Hackathon project in the context of an Federal University to promote social participation and build SPVE, such as the engagement of members of the institution and members outside it, which motivates them, and what were the effects caused by the event at UNIRIO.