How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect governance and digital management practices? An analysis of higher education institutions in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: To analyze how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the digital governance and digital management practices of the Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IFES) in Brazil.
Crislaine de Fátima Gonçalves de Miranda; Leandro Menezes Rodrigues; Ednalva Santos Pereira Leitão
Method and approach: The research is classified as descriptive, documentary and qualitative in approach. Descriptive, therefore, sought to describe and portray the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the digital governance practices of IFES in Brazil. Documental, therefore, analyzed 194 Annual Management Reports corresponding to 97 educational institutions in the pandemic period (2020 and 2021). It is qualitative, because it used the document analysis technique to interpret and analyze the data, using the methodological map for Public Administration studies proposed by Silva et al. (2020).
Main results and contributions: It is possible to affirm that the pandemic caused several effects on the institutions' digital governance practices. Remote work and emergency teaching were the main justifications addressed by the IFES. Initiatives such as: contracting digital platforms, updating management systems, purchasing equipment and creating digital inclusion projects were the most reported. In addition to these practices, it was possible to identify the existence of structural and personnel limitations in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sectors of the institutions, which had a great impact, especially in the first pandemic year.
Originality and relevance: Shows how digital governance took place in IFES during the chaotic pandemic scenario, demonstrating what were the main decisions of public managers and reports how ICTs were allied to the provision of the educational public service, mainly, as at work remote teaching and emergency remote teaching.