Innovative Digitalisation Initiatives for Smart Communities and Smart Cities in a Developing Country

Anthea van der Hoogen (), Brenda Scholtz () and André P. Calitz ()
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Anthea van der Hoogen: Nelson Mandela University
Brenda Scholtz: Nelson Mandela University
André P. Calitz: Nelson Mandela University

A chapter in Resilience, Entrepreneurship and ICT, 2021, pp 57-78 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Innovative digital solutions and digitalisation initiatives globally are contributing to addressing challenges to cities regarding energy, healthcare, public safety, transportation and poor water supply. Small businesses can take advantage of these opportunities to promote Smart Communities in cities. Although Smart City and Smart Community initiatives in South Africa are in their infancy, they can complement existing Integrated Development Plans in the country and have the potential to transform these cities. However, existing research has focused on Smart City infrastructure and not on Smart Communities, which has a more “citizen-centric” approach that focuses on the value provided to the citizens. This chapter investigates several Smart Community initiatives that are taking place in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and addresses the following two research questions: 1. What technologies are being used in innovative digitalisation initiatives for Smart Communities in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa? 2. How do Smart Community initiatives impact and add value to the stakeholders? A case study and survey strategy were used and interviews were conducted with key stakeholders of these initiatives. The three aspects of the Technology, Organisation, Environment (TOE) theory were used as first-level themes to analyse the interview data. The interview questions were then used as the second-level themes, and within these 44 sub-themes were identified. The findings revealed that Smart Community initiatives conducted in the two case studies used several new technologies to improve mobility, increase ICT skills and data awareness and improve processes and efficiencies in businesses.

Keywords: Smart communities; Information economy; Smart cities; Big data; Smart navigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:csrchp:978-3-030-78941-1_3

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-78941-1_3

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