Interview of Luis Felipe Monteiro, Former – Digital Government Secretary, Brazil
April 22, 2024
Luis Felipe Salin Monteiro brings over 20 years of experience in the technology field, finance, and government digital transformation.
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He is currently a Board Member of GLEIF, a Swiss based foundation that plays a critical role in promoting trust and transparency in the global financial markets. As the CEO of Cateno, a leading payments company in Brazil, he was responsible to achieve the highest results ever.
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Previously, Luis held the position of Brazil’s Digital Government Secretary. Under his guidance, two thousand digital public services were transformed, resulting in the remarkable growth of GOV.BR as one of the world’s top government platforms, serving over 150 million users. During this period, Brazil was recognized by the World Bank as the second most mature country in Digital Government.
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Widely regarded as an influential figure in the government and digital realms, Luis was honored by the World Economic Forum as one of the world’s 50 most influential people revolutionizing government and among the 100 most influential individuals in digital government.
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Moreover, his extensive background includes serving as the Chairman of the Board of SERPRO, the largest IT public company in South America, and holding positions on various other boards of directors. With a strong foundation in computer science, Monteiro’s educational accomplishments include a master’s degree and an MBA in information technology, and executive education programs at Georgetown and Harvard, focusing on leadership, innovation, and digital transformation.
Here are my main takeaways as Dina from my conversation with Luis:
- Countries that neglect this digital investment are essentially indebted to their societies, as they are depriving them of opportunities for progress and prosperity.
- Investing in digital infrastructure may seem like a significant expense, but the returns can be enormous. In a study conducted, Luis and his team estimated in the Brazilian journey that for every 1 USD spent on digital transformation initiatives, there was a staggering return of more than 100 USD.Â
- It’s crucial to learn from international experiences in digital transformation. While approaches may vary, the fundamental principles, infrastructures, and strategies often share similarities. Incentive models are what differs between countries.Â
Incentive models are what differs between countries.
Interview Start
Dina:
How would you introduce yourself?
Luis:
I feel that I am motivated to build great things. In the beginning of my career, I stayed for ten years working as a tech consultant in the financial sector. Later, I decided to join the public sector and made a great value in the next ten years that I was there. Nowadays, I am back in the private sector as an executive, working with companies and governments to accelerate massive transformations.
When working with the government, as a stable civil servant, I’ve served in various agencies and ministries. In the last five years, from 2017 to 2021, I served as the Secretary of Information Technology, later renamed to the Digital Government Secretariat, within the Ministry of Economy. In this role, I held the responsibilities of Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer for the Federal Government of Brazil, overseeing 200 agencies. Together with a team of 350 public servants and an indirect group of more than 7 thousand professionals working on the IT departments across these agencies, we founded “gov.br” which became one of the top digital government platforms in the world, with 150 million users.
For the last two years I was the CEO of Cateno, a leading payments company in Brazil, and proudly member of the board of tech-based organizations.
Dina:
Thank you so much for joining us today, Luis. Your career journey is truly impressive, transitioning from the private sector to the public sector and leading significant digital transformation efforts in Brazil. Before we dive into the details, could you tell us what you’re most passionate about outside of work?
Luis:
Thank you, Dina. It’s a pleasure to be here. Not exactly “outside” of work, I’m most passionate about the use of technology and how it can drive massive transformation. I enjoy discussing and reading about it with friends and family. Professionally, I see myself as a builder, someone who can promote substantial changes and move from point A to point B using technology and creating great impact.Â
Dina:
That’s fascinating, Luis. Now, you’ve mentioned the concept of “massive transformation” in digitalization. Could you elaborate on what that means to you?
Luis:
Absolutely, Dina. When I refer to massive transformation, it depends on the impact trying to be achieved. I’m talking about a significant shift in how government services are delivered using technology. For example, in Brazil, we endeavor a moon shot, to deliver digital public services to 210 million citizens. We went from serving less than 1.6 million people digitally in 2016 to reaching 150 million users four years later. This scale of adoption is what I consider massive because it fundamentally changes how citizens interact with their government. It’s not an easy task. But digital is a basic infrastructure for unlocking the future of societies. Countries who haven’t done that are in debt to their people to improve their lives. The effort is huge but also the return on investment is massive. We did a study where the return on investment for every 1 USD spent, the project returned more than 100 USD. This is massive.Â
Dina:
It’s incredible to hear about such progress. Now, let’s delve into the governance behind Brazil’s digital transformation.Â
Luis:
Certainly, Dina. Prior to embarking on our journey, we seized the opportunity to establish knowledge-sharing agreements with the governments of the UK, Denmark and partners in Latam like Uruguay. We also conducted missions, in collaboration with the OECD, to understand their approaches and learn from their mistakes. International experiences is a paramount, as while methods may vary, the core principles, infrastructures, and strategies often exhibit similarities. The ultimate goal is to create an environment conducive to public transformation, where citizens can access government services quickly and more efficiently, primarily through digital channels. To achieve this, establishing core infrastructure and services, alongside with incentive models, is essential to mobilize the 200 agencies nationwide towards this objective. However, the specifics of creating these incentives can vary from one country to another.
In Brazil, during 2014-2016, we initiated discussions around digital transformation within government teams. Prior to my tenure, many individuals had already laid the groundwork for this movement. Subsequently, from 2019-2022, we implemented a partnership model with the agencies to ensure strategic alignment. To facilitate this, we positioned the Digital Government Secretariat under the Ministry of Economy, given its responsibility around government’s revenue, budget, people, and high-level public policy supervision, among other areas. This alignment was crucial for cohesive decision-making and policy evaluation. For capacity building, we concentrated within the Digital Government Secretariat the decision making and prioritized the efforts of two IT public companies: Serpro and Dataprev. Additionally, another important governance structure, the government decided to establish a Special Secretary for Public Management Modernization within the Civil House, situated close to the President, to oversee high-level decision-making without operational involvement. This structure was also important to maintain trust between agencies and ensures alignment among senior decision-makers, particularly in cases where certain agencies were not initially aligned with the program.
Dina:
What drove you to the public sector?
Luis:
When I was in the private sector, I had experience in delivering work to governments. When I left that company, I decided that I was passionate about doing the same thing I was doing in private but in the public. I saw the huge technology gap in the Brazilian public sector and understood that my building capabilities could help the public.Â
Dina:
Can you explain how Brazil’s Ministry of Economy collaborates with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to drive these initiatives especially that they have joint interests?Â
Luis:
This is a crucial inquiry. We employed two primary strategies that were interconnected. Firstly, we defined the Brazilian Strategy for Digital Transformation (e-Digital), overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Their responsibility encompassed crucial steps aimed at fostering digital adoption across the entire economy, both in the public and private sectors, thus constituting a high-level strategy.
Within this overarching strategy, a key pillar focused on reforming the government from within, addressing mindsets, processes, and public service provision. Additionally, we were fully committed to implement the Digital Government Transformation Strategy, specifically targeting gov internal processes and services to citizens. Our day-to-day routine involved to develop shared platforms, monitor and report on the progress and challenges encountered on the way.Â
Dina:
Your role as Secretary of Digital Government must have involved significant coordination efforts. How did you lead the coordination among 200 agencies.Â
Luis:
A leader must carefully consider several perspectives. Firstly, I see that my role was to establish an ambitious vision with few and clear high level goals and the timeline for its realization. Secondly, I put lot of effort on building the best-in-class team to execute this vision. ‘Best’ doesn’t solely entail educational background or technical expertise; rather, it involves assembling a team willing to collaborate, have fun and embark on the journey together.
Thirdly, it was crucial to identify and address the barriers the team encountered along the way. Myself as leader should be in the frontline, working in coordination with various stakeholders to ensure a smooth path forward. Last but not least, it was essential to keep the rhythm and establish mechanisms for monitoring and recording progress.
Digital transformation, especially in governments, is not a short sprint; it’s akin to running a marathon. Success requires meticulous tracking and recording of the entire journey.
Dina:
What digital public infrastructures facilitated this collaboration within a federal government?
Luis:
We learned from international partners and from the OECD, that we must build shared platforms for the most common pitfalls of government services provision. We built the gov.br platform from scratch. Established by a presidential decree, this Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) became central and its key features, were essential elements to expedite the transformation of public services.
A foundational to deliver a secure digital identity. In our case, it was based on biometrics to grant citizens access in a secure and private environment. Additionally, the consolidation of hundreds of web portals into the a single gov.br digital government channel was imperative, given the plethora of disparate portals previously in use. Centralized domain control over the government presence on the internet was essential to keep the focus on the strategy.
Furthermore, we implemented a notification system enabled us to prioritize citizen-centric journeys, tailoring notifications based on individual characteristics. Recognizing that 30% of services involved fees, we developed a government payments platform, in conjunction with PIX, the widely adopted Brazilian instant payments platform established by the Central Bank.
Streamlining operations, we automated business processes through a low-code BPMS – Business process management system – thereby reducing IT burdens on projects. Tightly connected with the digital ID at gov.br, we delivered a digital signatures legislation and a platform that was crucial for specific services with formal acceptance steps.
Finally, embracing and making the move to cloud a priority facilitated scalability and efficiency in service delivery.
Dina:
Luis, could you share a significant challenge Brazil faced in its digital transformation journey that other countries can learn from?
Luis:
Certainly, Dina. One significant challenge we faced was adjusting to the abrupt changes imposed by the pandemic. We had to swiftly pivot our strategies to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of essential services amidst lockdowns. Additionally, maintaining alignment among our team members and navigating through political and societal pressures proved to be continuous challenges.
It’s imperative for governments to uphold transparent communication channels with citizens, media and opinion makers to address concerns effectively and ensure the success of transformation initiatives. Specifically, communication with citizens should ensure clarity regarding the objectives and initiatives. This approach fostered a better understanding and engagement with our goals.
Dina:
Thank you, Luis, for sharing your insights and experiences with us today. Your leadership in driving digital transformation in Brazil is truly inspiring, and I’m sure many countries can learn from your strategies and challenges.
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Interview End
Key Messages extracted by Dina:
- Establish a bold vision, assemble a cohesive team, address barriers proactively, and maintain meticulous documentation and monitoring for successful digital transformation, akin to running a marathon rather than a sprint.
- Focus on pivotal components such as secure digital identity, centralized portals, efficient notification systems, payment platforms, automated processes, digital signatures, and cloud infrastructure, while ensuring citizen-centricity and scalability.
- Effective communication with citizens requires utilization of specialized media channels, ensuring they comprehend the objectives you are aiming for.
Interview done by
Dina Richani, is a consultant with a rich background of working with various governments and experience at renowned institutions like the United Nations and World Bank.
