Episode 259: Giulio Carvalho on Civic Tech and Querido Diário

Guest Giulio Carvalho Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes In this
episode of Sustain, host Richard Littauer talks with Giulio
Carvalho, a civic tech practitioner and program manager at Open
Knowledge Brasil, about the importance of open data and civic
engagement in Brazil. They discuss the role of civic tech projects
in promoting transparency, such as Querido Diário (Dear Diary), an
open-source project aimed at centralizing municipal data for better
access by citizens, journalists, and activists. Giulio shares
insights on the challenges and successes of maintaining open-source
projects within a developing country, particularly in the face of
competition from large tech corporations. Press download now to
hear more! [00:01:36] Giulio explains the Civic Innovation
Ambassador Network, and the network’s impact on political
transparency pledges made by politicians for open data and
transparency is highlighted. [00:04:16] There’s a discussion about
how the pledge focuses on open data and government transparency,
relating it to broader movements of open knowledge, and Giulio
mentions the Law of Information Access established in Brazil,
emphasizing the legal obligations for government transparency.
[00:06:49] Richard compares the efforts to the U.S. Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), prompting a discussion on open data and
transparency initiatives in Brazil. Giulio discusses specific
projects in Brazil that allow citizens to request information
anonymously. [00:10:10] Giulio introduces the Querido Diário
project, designed to make official acts published in municipal
gazettes accessible to the public. [00:15:22] The funding,
development, and challenges of sustaining the Querido Diário
projects are discussed, noting the support from various grants and
partnerships. [00:21:17] The conversation shifts to the broader
impact and goals of Open Knowledge Brazil in promoting open data
and supporting civic tech initiatives. [00:23:34] Challenges in
building a sustainable project with widespread municipal interest
are discussed, along with strategies for managing community
contributions and maintaining active development. [00:30:01]
Richard and Giulio reflect on building grassroots tech movements in
the global south and the challenges posed by proprietary
technologies from more developed regions. [00:35:12] Find out where
you can find Giulio’s work and where you can get involved with Open
Knowledge Brasil. Quotes [00:30:46] “If we build something by us
for us, we can actually build great stuff.” Spotlight [00:38:10]
Richard’s spotlight is Alexander von Humboldt. [00:38:58] Giulio’s
spotlight is pretalx. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/)
podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org)
richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS
Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon
(https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) Open
Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute)
(https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials
(https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Giulio Carvalho
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ogecece/) Querido Diário
(https://queridodiario.ok.org.br/en-US/sobre) Open Knowledge Brasil
(https://ok.org.br/) Open Knowledge Brasil-GitHub
(https://github.com/okfn-brasil) Civic Innovation Ambassadors
(https://embaixadoras.ok.org.br/) Paper Past Magazines and Journals
(https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/) Alexander von
Humboldt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_von_Humboldt)
pretalx (https://pretalx.com/p/about/) Credits Produced by Richard
Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at
Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by
DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/)
Special Guest: Giulio Carvalho.