Evaluating Digital Public Services in Brazil: Insights from Federal Managers

Glauco Vitor Pedrosa; Edna Dias Canedo; Wander C. M. Pereira da Silva; Rejane M. da C. Figueiredo

doi:10.5753/jis.2026.6874

Authors

Glauco Vitor Pedrosa University of Brasilia (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5573-6830
Edna Dias Canedo Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2159-339X
Wander C. M. Pereira da Silva University of Brasilia (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7060-1245
Rejane M. da C. Figueiredo University of Brasilia (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8243-7924

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5753/jis.2026.6874

Keywords:

Digital Government, Public Service Evaluation, Service Quality, User Feedback, Public Sector Innovation

Abstract

Context: Digital service evaluation plays a key role in informing decision-making and supporting continuous improvement in public administration. In Brazil, federal public managers are directly involved in implementing and interpreting the evaluation mechanisms embedded in digital services. Goal: This study seeks to understand how federal public managers interpret and utilize Brazil’s digital service evaluation system, with the objective of identifying barriers to its effectiveness and opportunities for improvement. Method: The study employed three focus groups with 27 federal public managers representing 12 federal institutions. The sessions investigated how managers perceive the evaluation interface, interpret user feedback, and integrate these mechanisms into decision-making and service improvement processes. Results: The study identified ongoing barriers such as low interface visibility, limited analytical tools, confusion between evaluating service quality and service outcomes, and weak user participation. Insights from the third focus group, formed by managers from the Ministry of Management and Innovation (MGI), further emphasized the importance of simplicity, accessibility, transparency, new evaluation attributes, and improved dashboards for internal monitoring. Conclusion: Based on these findings, the study proposes recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of Brazil’s digital service evaluation system, including improving interface visibility, simplifying evaluation forms, automating data analysis, and establishing feedback loops for users and managers. By integrating operational and institutional perspectives, the study advances the understanding of how evaluation mechanisms can support public value creation and continuous improvement in digital government services.

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