An analytical citizen relation management system (CZRM) for social vulnerability mapping and policy recommendation in Brazil

Abstract

The emerging field of Citizen Relationship Management has shown promise to combine data analytics and intuitive digital platforms to help public managers interpret citizen-driven data and draw out appropriate policy. However, research dates back to only the last ten years, and does not commonly focus on families of extreme social vulnerability or how to bring solutions that increase access to public infrastructure. This research addresses the central challenge of setting strategic intervention plans for these families considering their multiple levels of vulnerability and the limited government resources available to address them. The paper builds on the framework for analytical CZRM to prototype and build a tool that analyzes data about income, nutrition, and housing for over 34,000 low-income families in Ceará, Brazil. Each family is assigned a vulnerability score, which is then used to filter public policy recommendations that address specific vulnerability profiles. The CZRM derives from over one year of interaction with government stakeholders who expressed their needs. Further software validation was completed with a series of test cases which ensured the tool was working and showing accurate results. The interactive mapping, ranking and filtering tool exemplifies an emerging decision support system to build a citizen portfolio and to set strategies to provide public services to different citizen groups.