A Model and a Portal to Enhance Social Participation through the Integration of Communities of Practice and the Semantic Web: A Comparative Study between Argentina and Brazil

Abstract: In Argentina, social participation is primarily exercised through draft laws proposed by society and referendums, as seen in the abortion debate, where the majority of the population supported legalization. Despite this engagement, access to education and books—although significantly higher than in Brazil—is not a determining factor in participatory culture. Buenos Aires alone, for instance, has more bookstores than the entirety of Brazil, yet this has not necessarily translated into more effective civic engagement. In contrast, Brazil lacks a strong tradition of enhancing representative democracy through direct social participation. However, the government has launched several initiatives, such as the “Dialoga Brasil” and “Diálogos Federativos” programs, hosted on the “Participa” portal, aiming to collect and apply collective knowledge. These efforts, however, have largely served as a means to overshadow widespread corruption and maintain governance without leveraging modern management tools like Knowledge Management (KM) and Organizational Intelligence (OI). The result was an overwhelming influx of contributions, which, due to outdated filtering techniques such as data mining, failed to effectively capture and utilize public input. To address this challenge, this study proposes the development of a Social Participation Portal structured into thematic areas (Communities of Practice) and powered by the Semantic Web, utilizing an ontological architecture to represent, analyze, and interpret diverse societal contributions. In addition to the portal, the study introduces a Knowledge Management (KM) and Organizational Intelligence (OI) model to enhance the principles of the American New Public Service (NPS) approach. The proposed model seeks to transform raw data and information into actionable knowledge, intelligence, and ultimately, wisdom. As a key intermediate construct, the study highlights the role of culture, recognizing that newly generated knowledge through social participation fosters shifts in beliefs, values, and assumptions, which subsequently impact the application of intelligence. To examine these relationships, the study employs an interview-based methodology conducted at the National University of La Plata (UNLP) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the State University of Bahia (UNEB) in Salvador, Brazil. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to test the interconnections between culture, knowledge, and intelligence. The findings indicate that the KM-OI model is an effective strategy for improving public policy outcomes and reducing corruption by enhancing the quality of social participation, particularly in knowledge creation (KM) and application (OI) within governmental frameworks. However, fostering an organized, mature, and participatory civil society requires a long-term process of cultural transformation.