As ações do Vale dos Trilhos na implementação da democratização digital no município de Ponta Grossa, relacionados ao incentivo à cidadania digital

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the actions related to digital democratization in the scope of the innovation ecosystem Vale dos Trilhos in the municipality of Ponta Grossa. How does the work of this program, which has technological democratization and digital inclusion as one of its axes, promote the population's access to the rights inherent to citizenship? As this is a new public policy at municipal level with no recorded indicators, a technical report will be carried out on the accessibility of services related to the free internet access points provided for Vale dos Trilhos’ axis 2. The methodology is the inductive research method, starting from the concept of “smart city” to look for the concept of “digital citizenship” in Vale dos Trilhos, and to check whether its axis 2 corresponds to these concepts. Researches were carried out in other sources, such as the websites of the Ponta Grossa city hall, of Vale dos Trilhos, as well as municipal and state laws and decrees, among others. The direct documentary research is the methodological basis, supported by user experience with data collection on site where the events usually take place, along with field research regarding the program PG Conectada internet connection at its access points and the analysis of the application Oxy Cidadão in terms of access to municipal public services. Therefore, it all allowed the analysis of the concept of “smart city” and how Ponta Grossa identifies with this model in comparison with other cities of the same size in the state of Paraná. The results on the internet connections at the points analyzed will also be presented, indicating whether axis 2 of Vale dos Trilhos, which has initiatives to expand access to technology as well as empower communities to interact digitally, enabling citizens to become autonomous in their own journey, with a glimpse of the benefits that technology can bring to people, really promotes social emancipation and digital citizenship.