Name: Criança Feliz (Projeto Horus) (Brazil)Our extended analysis:
Area of Application: EducationGoals: “Technology for monitoring social programs focused on child development. The objective is “to transfer experiences and tools to implement artificial intelligence that supports improvements in Brazil’s social program that benefits children up to three years old, enrolled with the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government (Cadastro Único), and children up to six years who receive the Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC, Benefício de Prestação Continuada), in addition to pregnant women.”
How does it work according to the project's official information: The Technical Cooperation Agreement was signed on September 23, 2019. At the time, Brazil was the fifth country in Latin America to adopt “the monitoring system developed in Argentina with the goal to access living conditions experienced by children.” According to the Ministry of Citizenship, “cross-checking data would allow to forecast possible vulnerabilities and to anticipate information to avoid them.” By the time of the agreement, the Horus Project, as it is called, has been active for five years in the Argentine province of Salta and “presents detailed information about the real situation of each person interviewed by the visitors.” Microsoft was responsible for bringing the technology developed in Argentina to Brazil. Ronan Damasco, director of Technology for the company in Brazil, stressed in an interview that “Microsoft is very interested in this partnership due to the social impact it may have on the lives of thousands of children across the country.”
Possible bias: 1. Risks of stigmatization, discrimination, and criminalization of vulnerable persons (children and adolescents)
2. The project in which it has been inspired has received criticism from academia and the technical community for severe statistical errors
3. Sexist approach to teenage pregnancy
Public Institutions Involved: Ministry of Citizenship (Brazil) in partnership with Ministry of Early Childhood of Salta (Argentina)
Companies/Private Institutions Involved: Microsoft
Related links with further information:
http://mds.gov.br/area-de-imprensa/noticias/2019/setembro/parceria-entre-governo-brasileiro-provincia-argentina-e-microsoft-ira-ajudar-no-monitoramento-do-crianca-feliz
https://bernardvanleer.org/app/uploads/2018/06/Crianc%CC%A7a-Feliz-un-programa.pdf
http://mds.gov.br/area-de-imprensa/radio-1/2019/setembro/ministerio-da-cidadania-e-microsoft-firmam-parceria-para-monitoramento-do-crianca-feliz
https://g1.globo.com/pb/paraiba/noticia/2019/09/25/campina-grande-testa-projeto-pioneiro-para-monitoramento-tecnologico-do-crianca-feliz.ghtml
