Possibilities of using georeferenced information for the administration of public education systems: a study in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Currently, public administration institutions produce a large volume of data and, therefore, there is an increasing demand for transforming these data in information and knowledge for strategic management. In the Municipal Secretary of Education of Belo Horizonte (SMED) such content is provided after treatment, organization and incorporation of other data depoying great effort, but with a low level of automatization. The Board of Direction has repeatedly demanded such information to be georeferenced, as well as crossed with information and indicators of other areas, external to SMED. This study aims at proposing the guidelines for creating a strategic information system upon an educational database that, through georeferencing, allows fast access to such information by means of maps and graphs. Therefore, a two-step research was conducted, first under a qualitative approach, followed by a quantitative study, with staff members, in order to identify the needs, possibilities and guidelines for the development and execution of such a system. The interviewees confirmed the need of a faster and easier way to access information. According to them, the system would provide a broader visibility of the main indicators used by the Board, becoming a useful tool for planning and monitoring public policies and programs. However, they emphasize the need of investment in computational resources, improvement of operational processes, internal communication and decision making. The results also indicate the need to create a program that promotes and rewards the use of such tools, in the case they are put in action.