2025 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

The initiative to expand Digital Democracy and Social Participation in the municipality of Niterói is linked to the city's long history of social mobilizations and active participation in the formulation of public policies. Conferences, councils, public hearings, and participatory budgeting have always played a central role in decision-making. However, with technological advances and new forms of interaction, it became essential to modernize and expand communication channels with the population.

In this context, the city began a digital revolution, using social networks for direct communication between the population and the administration, allowing the reception of demands and suggestions in real-time, without the traditional bureaucracy. This innovation took shape with the partnership with COLAB, which was recognized in 2015 by the UN as the "Best Government and Participation Platform."

Collaborative “Zeladorias” (oversights) and Public Consultations became milestones of this transformation, centralizing citizens' demands that are georeferenced and directed to the responsible agencies, ensuring faster responses. Citizens can oversee, collaborate, and suggest actions without bureaucracy or the need for travel. For management, the platform allows tracking all stages in a unified digital environment, organizing data and optimizing decision-making.

Over time, we expanded and connected different demand channels into a single hub integrated into the citizen engagement strategy. We incorporated records previously handled by sectoral ombudsman offices, and integrated COLAB with in-person services at regional administrations, ensuring broad and inclusive access both at the territorial and social levels.

Currently, the platform has over 175,000 citizens in a city of 500,000 inhabitants. Since the initiative began, more than 239,000 requests have been registered, with continuous growth: 39,200 in 2022, 51,612 in 2024, and this year, in just one month, 5,700 new demands have already been received. To meet this growing participation, we have 510 employees involved, spread across 142 departments, numbers that have doubled in two years and continue to grow.

The initiative has become a national reference in digital governance. As part of this recognition, we can mention the various invitations to events, visits from other cities to learn about the experience, and reaching the final stages of awards such as the OIDP and the Brazil Awards at the Smart City Expo, among others.

For more information: https://www.colab.com.br/ (External link)

Presentation of the platform Colab (External link)