The Giant Leap for Smart Cities: Scaling Up Smart City Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) Initiatives

Berk Kaan Kuguoglu, Haiko van der Voort and Marijn Janssen
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Berk Kaan Kuguoglu: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands
Haiko van der Voort: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands
Marijn Janssen: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Despite the promise of AI and IoT, the efforts of many organizations at scaling smart city initiatives fall short. Organizations often start by exploring the potential with a proof-of-concept and a pilot project, with the process later grinding to a halt for various reasons. Pilot purgatory, in which organizations invest in small-scale implementations without them realizing substantial benefits, is given very little attention in the scientific literature relating to the question of why AI and IoT initiatives fail to scale up for smart cities. By combining extensive study of the literature and expert interviews, this research explores the underlying reasons why many smart city initiatives relying on Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) fail to scale up. The findings suggest that a multitude of factors may leave organizations ill prepared for smart city AIoT solutions, and that these tend to multiply when cities lack much-needed resources and capabilities. Yet many organizations tend to overlook the fact that such initiatives require them to pay attention to all aspects of change: strategy, data, people and organization, process, and technology. Furthermore, the research reveals that some factors tend to be more influential in certain stages. Strategic factors tend to be more prominent in the earlier stages, whereas factors relating to people and the organization tend to feature later when organizations roll out solutions. The study also puts forward potential strategies that companies can employ to scale up successfully. Three main strategic themes emerge from the study: proof-of-value, rather than proof-of-concept; treating and managing data as a key asset; and commitment at all levels.

Keywords: smart city; sustainable; artificial intelligence; internet of things; artificial intelligence of things; data governance; AIoT; barriers to scale up; scaling up; strategy; data governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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