Technological Innovation Driving Factor: Government-led vs Business-led Smart City Projects

Mu et al. (2022) conducted a study to fill in the gaps of knowledge of causal relationship between organisational conditions and government-led smart city projects. This exploration contrasts with the widely studied business-led smart city projects. This study then found several fundamental differences between government-led and business-led smart city projects. For business, the push to innovate comes from the motivation to develop knowledge (e.g., behavioral data of citizens, citizens’ preferences and capacities, etc.). This advancement is necessary to explore new business opportunities and to develop & market technological innovations. While for the government, shortages of human resources are the main drivers for technological advancement. Another difference between the two types of smart city project is the role of facilitative and supportive leadership. Leadership is an essential contributing factor in intelligent technologies of government-led projects while this factor does not have as importance in business-led projects. 

In government organisation, the complexities of the organisation push the government to respond differently and mobilise different resource depending on the organisational context and capacities. Thus, government may apply technologies with different level of smartness based on the limited resource they have. When there is no pressure of inadequate human resource, government usually opt for low level of technological smartness depending on the financial capacity and information-sharing capacity of the organisation. 

Reference:

Mu, R., Haershan, M., & Wu, P. (2022). What organizational conditions, in combination, drive technology enactment in government-led smart city projects?. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, 121220.

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