Building Open Knowledge Brazil and an Open Gov Data Ecosystem

From Grassroots to Government: Navigating Power, Policy, and Code to Create Open Data Tools and Networks

04.07.2025

Barcamp

Everton Zanella Alvarenga

1

2011 (May-Ago) Innovation Trip travelling accros 12 countries to bring ideas to home country

2

2011 (Jul) Proposal during OKCon, in Berlin, the Open Knowledge Foundation chapter is suggested

3

2011 (Oct) Start invited to work for the OKFn during the Open Government Data Camp, in Warsaw

5

2014-2015 Growth Google Social Impact Challenge, Worl Bank, Avina, FGV etc.

4

2013 (Sep) Founding organization created after circa two years

6

2016 Change new direction - moving to Europe

Network

  • Hosted local meetups, translated key documents, built communication channels.

  • Engaged with journalists, civil society, government and early open data advocates.

You can't just import an NGO model into a new country and expect it to work. We had to localize and co-create it with local stakeholders.”

 💲Financial Growth

  • From an initial amount of 15,000 USD, we successfully raised approximately USD 330,000 in one year.

  • We are dedicated to building innovative tools to track public spending and ensure political accountability.

💬 Engaging Government and Civil Society

  • We advocated the publication of data standards in collaboration with civil servants and government institutions.

  • We organized informative workshops and engaging hackathons with journalists  and various NGOs (School of Data).

🔧 Built Open Source Civic Tools

  • We created powerful platforms that made government data both usable and easily accessible.

  • Our focus was on ensuring reusability, localization, and advocating open data.

Google Social Impact Challenge

Challenges

💸Funding and Sustainability

  • Civic tech work is often funded as short-term innovation, but long-term maintenance is needed.

  • There is limited local philanthropic infrastructure for digital public goods.

🏛 Institutional Resistance

  • Despite access to information law (LAI), many government agencies were reluctant to release meaningful datasets.

  • Navigating bureaucracy and politics required coalition building and persistence.

Key Learnings

Building and Maintaining a Civic Tech Nonprofit

 

  • Start small, stay agile, and build legitimacy before scaling.

  • Balance activism, technical capacity, and institutional diplomacy.

 

How to make mistakes

 

  • Be generous when offering criticism. Represent opposing views in their strongest form before disagreeing. This builds trust and keeps the dialogue productive.

  • Admit your mistakes publicly. Being transparent about failure can foster credibility and community growth.

  • Don't be afraid to change your position. Progress requires flexibility and the courage to adapt.

 

Suggestion: Daniel Dennett's article on mistakes

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