An Analysis on the Web Portals of the Municipalities Comprising the Regional Development Bureau of Joinville (SC), Based on a Multicriteria Decisionmaking Model

The present work seeks to evaluate the level of transparency demonstrated by the online portals of city governments that make up the Regional Development Bureau –RDB– of the municipality of Joinville, in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, employing a mixed quali-quantitative approach to the research problem. The study being of exploratory and descriptive character, the model proposed by Nunes (2013) was used, which was developed by way of an application of the Multicriteria Decision Aid – Constructivist (MCDA-C) methodology. The results showed, in general, a low level of transparency in the web portals of the municipalities analyzed, with an average of two points. In synthesis, the comprehensive evaluation of each municipality indicated that 50% of them do not disclose that which is required by Brazilian legislation. The positive standout among the sample is the City of Joinville, which showed the highest level of transparency with 29 points; conversely, the City of Balneario Barra do Sul stood out in a negative light, with the lowest score, at -12 points. The application of the Nunes (2003) model as well as comparisons with the results of previous studies made evident several contrasts in the level of transparency of municipal web portals from different regions of the state, while also demonstrating the potential of the same for continued evaluation of the level of transparency of the web portals and its capacity for suggesting steps for enhancing them.