Brazil's federal universities waste millions on fragmented data centers, TCU report shows

An audit by Brazil's Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU) examined 110 federal universities and professional education institutions, which operate a total of 225 data‑center facilities. The review found that the institutions spend tens of millions of reais on duplicate procurements and that roughly one‑third of their IT staff are occupied with routine support tasks instead of security, development or innovation.

The TCU concluded that the lack of a coordinated digital‑infrastructure policy has produced a fragmented network, unreliable IT budgeting information, and weak digital governance. The audit, led by minister Benjamin Zymler and conducted by the TCU’s Specialized IT Audit Unit (AudTI) between August 2025 and February 2026, was unanimously approved by the TCU plenary on 22 July 2026.