Raising the bar: The role of governance in performance assessments

On a worldwide basis, due to significant market failures in the water sector, there is a requirement to promote regulation. To attain balance in water sector's performance, bearing in mind the public interest, the use of performance assessment systems may become relevant to improve efficiency, mainly when utilities have public ownership. Here we posit the relevance of sunshine regulation and governance for quality of service improvements. For such purpose, an innovative performance assessment system, based on indicators, was proposed. We discuss its use in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, particularly the role to be played by governance related indicators.