Assaí is a Brazilian municipality, located in the north of the state of Paraná, with a population of around 18,000 inhabitants. A Japanese colony was settled in Acaí, which allowed the city to obtain great prominence in the world due to its exclusive concept of smart city, specific for small cities, called Sun Valley.

The city of Assaí is already working to protect and uphold digital rights principles:

Universal and equal access to internet and digital literacy

• The Sun Valley ecosystem strategy plans to provide citywide coverage of free internet access (broadband) to the population by 2025.
• The Sun Valley ecosystem strategy plans to train over 50 women in situations of vulnerability in the use of Technologies for prevention and promotion of rights by 2024.
• The Sun Valley ecosystem strategy plans to empower over 100 elderly individuals annually in the use of digital technologies to obtain documents and digital services, until 2026.
• The Sun Valley ecosystem strategy provides for a Technology Center for social reintegration, with connectivity, coworking and training courses focused on technology, such as 3D printing, robotics, drone usage, programming, design, among others.
• The Sun Valley ecosystem strategy foresees the restructuring of the public education policy, subsidising education until the first job, and including English as a second language for students in Assaí.

Privacy, data protection and literacy

• The Municipal Law no 1.818/2022 (Sun Valley Law) establishes guidelines, procedures, preparatory measures and initial actions to comply with the provisions of the General Law for the Protection of Personal Data (GLPD) within the scope of the Municipal Executive Branch and establishes the Privacy Policy Personal Data Protection Governance.
• The City Hall's methodology for the digital transformation of public services seeks to simplify service request forms, reducing the excessive and unnecessary demand for data, information and documents that are not of public interest. The city is guided by the principles of privacy by design.
• The Sun Valley ecosystem strategy provides for the implementation of a foundational public policy for managing citizen identities, better understanding the demands of citizens and their experiences in the city.

Transparency, accountability and non-discrimination of data, content and algorithms

• The Transparency Portal is the digital platform where society can monitor the use of public resources, information on bids, breakdown of expenses such as payroll, among others.
• The Sun Valley ecosystem strategy envisions establishing a Data Governance Policy for the municipality by 2024.
• The Sun Valley ecosystem strategy plan to enable assistive Technologies in all the most widely used digital channels and platforms by 2025.

Participatory democracy, diversity and inclusion

• Sun Valley's governance is made up of a plural and equal composition council between the State and civil society, with a deliberative and/or advisory nature, whose function is to formulate, supervise, control and propose improvements to public policies.
• In addition to the Board, Sun Valley's governance is made up of 6 technical committees that deal with public policy interoperability, data protection, digital transformation and youth forum.
• Sun Valley's collaborative governance also features the Sun Flower points program, where behavioral science is applied to transform Assaí's citizen culture. Sun Flower uses nudges associated with rewards and ranking of the best citizens, doctors, teachers, students, seniors, among others. At the end of the year, Inova Assaí is held where everyone is recognized and awarded.
• The Journey of the SGGs Challenges is an annual hackathon applied to students from kindergarten to high school, aiming to develop innovative solutions that can have an impact on the city, observing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Open and ethical digital service standards

• In November 2022, the Municipality of Assaí launched the Citizen Service Portal. The platform provides information on more than 100 municipal services and allows online requests for 34 digital services. The Citizen Service Portal can be accessed at https://servicos.assai.pr.gov.br 
• Assaí was elected one of the 21 smartest communities in the world, by the Intelligent Communities Forum (ICF), in the 2023 edition, due to its digital transformation with special attention to personal data protection and digital ethics. Digital ethics is a topic at schools, at the Technological Center and at wifi hotspots throughout the city.