There is a story that has been told over and over about Brazil. It starts with “Brazil is a land of contradictions”. There is a good Brazil and an evil Brazil. And the latter has the favela as its main icon. AfroReggae is a Brazilian NGO that was born inside the favelas and that understands this reality as exactly the opposite. Favelas, and the favela population are one of the most underestimated centres of economic and social development in Brazil. There are 12,3 million Brazilians living in favelas. More than the population of Belgium. Their income sums up USD 23 billion. A value higher than the annual consumption of Paraguay and Bolivia, together. These are impressive figures, but also are all the data available about these places. And that is where the problem lays. Favelas today are entire cities hidden at plain sight. There are no ZIP codes. No registered street names. No formal businesses. Our work had a clear objective: transform a data-free zone in a data-full one. We wanted to put a magnifying glass in these areas. To collect unpublished data on favelas that could increase access to local businesses, boosting local economy, and enable social identity, raising self-esteem amongst favela residents.

The way we chose to start it was to build the most essential data tool, still inexistent in favelas: a map. Until the beginning of the project, if you were to observe Brazil in digital maps, you would have noticed large blank areas where the favelas should be. That is how Tá no Mapa was born: to finally make the favelas visible to consumers, brands and public services.

The project is defined by its “always-beta” aspect: it is being refined in each new territory to dribble the difficulties of mapping such as intricate landscapes, poor access to mobile internet and criminal groups control.

The results obtained so far prove the success of the implementation of a data culture. 5 major favelas were already mapped and the impact is palpable. 78% of businesses mapped affirm Tá no Mapa has increased their revenue; 74% say that it helped in their businesses’ visibility; 89% of them believe that Tá no Mapa helped the community; and the results go on.

The reality of these communities was effectively transformed by a magnifying glass that revealed life, cultural identity and bustling economy where there was only invisibility, exclusion and anonymity.