Covid-19 Emergency Aid: How the Brazilian Government Used Social Big Data Analytics to Give Economic Support and Protect Vulnerable Citizens

Abstract

The digital transformation has been accountable for major socio-cultural and economic changes, requiring different management solutions from governments and corporations. Data have a fundamental role due to their contribution to the decision-making process. An unexpected accelerator of these changes was a virus that paralyzed Brazil and the world, generating social isolation and freezing the economy while all the attention turned on how to contain and mitigate it. The social and economic impacts, especially on the low-income Brazilian population, were immediate. In May 2020, Dataprev (Social Security Technology and Information Company)'s core capabilities were used to put in place in 14 days the Emergency Aid program, fundamental to prevent the impacts from being even greater for the Brazilian population. In this study, we present the role and relevance of using technology and big data analytics (BDA) as the basis for the implementation of the largest aid program ever developed in the country, in which the Government invested R$ 265 billion (50 billion USD) and benefited more than 65 million people.