A comunicação pública como instrumento de desenvolvimento, democracia e construção de cidadania: análise das práticas de transparência e acesso à informação no Município de São Luís, MA

In the contemporary era, public communication is established through information and communication technologies (ICT). This research aimed to verify the contribution of the ICT to the development of Sao Luis, capital of Maranhao State, specifically regarding access to information. Field research was conducted with questionnaires applied to 384 residents for their perception of the theme and semi-structured interviews with municipal managers. The results showed that this municipality lacks educational policies that provide and equip its citizens for the use of ICT, as well as there is little use of e-SIC, the official channel adopted by the municipality for requests for access to information.