ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a more analytical perspective by examining the key dimensions of anti-corruption technologies (ACTs), taking into account the empirical data presented in the previous chapters. ACTs cannot be treated as merely synonymous with digital technologies because, as the existing literature points out, they encompass social, material, and symbolic dimensions. This chapter adds the political dimension to these socio-technical assemblages, considering that they are embedded in the political landscape, in which the political discourse around corruption, the legal frameworks, and the operational design of the “web of accountability” institutions should be considered as part of ACTs. This chapter shows how, in the field of anti-corruption efforts in Brazil, there is a pool of human resources ready to use their technical skills or their openness to technological innovation to make use of a vast amount of available data and to apply newly created and existing technologies, strongly influenced by the imaginaries and relationships constructed around these technologies and corruption, as well as by the political landscape, where legal frameworks are as important as bureaucratic commitment. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the key conditions under which ACTs have emerged and proliferated in Brazil.
