Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Belo Horizonte Reduces the Digital Divide and Creates Opportunities for Residents
Project Type:
Technology, High-Performing Government
At a Glance
Belo Horizonte uses demographic data to offer free Wi-Fi points in all Villages and Favelas, territories with high social vulnerability and low income, and train more than 17,000 residents through free technology and digital entrepreneurship courses.
The Open Data Portal makes more than 500 datasets available, encouraging transparency and public innovation.
Belo Horizonte Operations Center (COP-BH) brings together 20 institutions to share data used in managers’ daily decision-making, in major events, catastrophes and crises.
As of February 2025, citizens can interact remotely with Belo Horizonte City Hall by requesting 1,435 services on the BH Digital platform, including 128 quick request services via PBH APP.
The Belo Horizonte City Hall Data Lake brings together 10 databases from Resource Planning, Urban Mobility, Taxes and Citizen Service.
Belo Horizonte’s strategic planning is 100% aligned with Sustainable Development indicators.
Millions of people in Brazil, especially in low-income communities known as favelas, do not have access to the internet and computers, which is a barrier to education, professional opportunities and essential services. Belo Horizonte, however, is changing this reality. Digital inclusion is essential for universal access to digital public services. Inspired by the motto “Don’t leave anyone offline”, the Digital Inclusion Program, led by the City’s digital infrastructure and IT company, PRODABEL, is bridging the digital divide and transforming lives. The initiative is based on three pillars: connectivity, equipment and training.
Belo Horizonte uses demographic and geographic data as a tool to reduce social inequality and the lack of access to quality internet. In 2023, the City reached an important milestone by providing more than 2,100 free Wi-Fi points in Belo Horizonte’s 220 vilas and favelas. Across the capital, more than 4,800 access points now offer free internet, with a simplified login system available in Portuguese, Spanish and English, already used by more than 3 million people. For residents without their own technology, more than 130 telecenters — located in libraries, cultural centers and other public spaces — offer free access to computers and online services. Moreover, a mobile digital inclusion unit expands this effort, bringing technology and training directly to the most vulnerable communities, enabling access to recently digitized municipal services and educational programs.
17,000 certifications awarded to residents for completing free technology courses, in person and online, including a significant participation of women, young people and the elderly.
“I am grateful for the learning opportunities that the basic IT course provided me. In my 39 years of life, this was the first time I had contact with a computer. When I arrived to take the course, I didn’t even know how to turn it on, and I had this wonderful opportunity to acquire knowledge that will open many doors for me.”
100% of the city’s 220 villages, favelas and housing complexes have free Wi-Fi points.
“We work to improve people’s quality of life. That’s the most important thing.”
More than 4,800 free internet access points spread across the city.
The program also increases digital inclusion by renovating and donating equipment — more than 50,000 to students and 1,300 to low-income families and telecenters in non-governmental institutions as of December 2024. Free technology courses, covering everything from computer basics to programming, robotics and digital entrepreneurship, enable residents to prosper in the digital economy. Available to anyone over the age of 16, these courses have already issued more than 17,000 certificates, with a focus on involving women, young people and the elderly.
Belo Horizonte is also a model in digital governance. City Hall trains employees in the use of technology to increase efficiency and improve decision-making. Through a pioneering Data Intelligence Policy, the City ensures that data is collected, stored and shared with security and transparency, in addition to prioritizing the responsible use of artificial intelligence. The Belo Horizonte Operations Center (COP-BH) puts this policy into practice, integrating data from more than 20 institutions to improve public services, coordinate major events and respond preventively to crisis situations.
The City is not only filling the technology gap, but also building a future in which every resident can thrive in a rapidly changing world.
In Belo Horizonte, we are committed to institutionalizing digital transformation, structuring processes and providing tools for decision-making. Furthermore, we understand the importance of everyone involved having digital literacy to take ownership of the digitalization of services.
