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Abstract

The effect of digital transformation towards more efficient, place-based and bottom-up innovation policies at different spatial scales has proven significant, as digital technologies modify existing policy-design routines in cities and regions. Smart places (cities, districts, neighbourhoods, ecosystems) depend on the way digitalisation disrupts systems of innovation in cities, making it more open, global, participatory and experimental. We argue that the rise and interconnection of various types of intelligence (artificial, human, collective) could bring profound changes in the way smart places are being created and evolve. In this context, cyber-physical systems of innovation are deployed through multiple nodes acquiring digital companions, collaboration is deployed over physical, social, and digital spaces, and actors can use complex methods guided by software and get insights from data and analytics. The paper also presents the case study of OnlineS3, a two-year Horizon 2020 project, which developed and tested a digital platform composed of applications, datasets and roadmaps, which altogether create a digital environment for empowering the design of smart specialisation strategies for local and regional systems of innovation. The results indicate that digital transformation allows the operationalisation of multiple methodologies which have not been used earlier by policy makers, due to lack of capabilities. It can also increase the scalability of indicators facilitating decision making at different spatial scales and, therefore, better respond to the complexity of innovation systems providing dynamic and scale-diverse information.

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... They have gradually become an inherent aspect of value creation by introducing processes that act complementary to or independently from traditional space, as well as by creating interactions, new information flows, and network effects [12]. Therefore, platforms can reinforce capabilities for productivity and innovation by increasing their proximity externalities [13,14]. ...
... All these elements are essential for generating agglomeration effects that trigger centripetal forces in the new forms of space produced by technology. In this context, digital platforms offer the ability to foster team collaborations for releasing collective intelligence benefits and are able to reproduce agglomeration forces accompanied by actor interactions for building proximity externalities [14,44]. ...
... In this way, these platforms led to a considerable adoption of technological advancements by individuals, firms, and institutions, which could not be achieved previously. This resulted in (i) an explosion of actors who interacted during productivity and innovation processes; (ii) the glocalization of knowledge by mixing local and global competence and knowhow factors; (iii) skills improvement and informed decision making using digital tools; and (iv) an extended user-driven innovation [14]. ...
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Platforms have the ability to create connected digital spaces where different actors co-exist and work together. The paper explores the power of platforms as enablers of a new channel of proximity, called digital proximity. It argues that platforms enable interactions, information flows, and network formation through digital proximity, which can effectively reinforce externalities complementing existing proximity forms or bypassing physical space barriers. Firms and industries adopting platform-based tools can create meaningful channels for increasing their proximity at an intra- and inter-firm level. The study uses data from the Digital Economy and Society database covering 25 EU countries for the years 2019 and 2021. It calculates the degree of adoption by EU firms at the national level for a set of selected platform-based technologies closely related to different proximity forms. It investigates the relationship between digital proximity, firm size, and industry, also introducing a geographical dimension. The evidence suggests that large firms have managed to integrate platform-based technologies to a greater extent, whereas small and medium firms still lack leveraging the full power of platforms. Increased adoption at the country level is also related to increased productivity, indicating the geographical dimension of platforms. The paper argues that platforms can be seen as a new means for balancing uneven spatial capabilities for producing proximity, indicating a high potential for fostering territorial cohesion. It concludes by suggesting that future research should measure the effects of digital proximity on development and their causal relationship to better elaborate on the implications of platforms on development.
... Typical examples include ride-hailing (Uber), journey planning (CityMapper), property rental (AirBnB), or electric scooter sharing (Bird). These platform-based ecosystems have quickly evolved from "disruptive innovations" to an essential feature of smart places, including smart cities and regions [48]. They are now significantly shaping many dimensions of urban life [31], affecting the local economy, everyday life, utilities, and governance [48]. ...
... These platform-based ecosystems have quickly evolved from "disruptive innovations" to an essential feature of smart places, including smart cities and regions [48]. They are now significantly shaping many dimensions of urban life [31], affecting the local economy, everyday life, utilities, and governance [48]. Their very fast growth and strong level of user engagement represents a major contrast with quadruple helix approaches promoted by local governments [39], where governments struggle to involve their own citizens in the services they promote (c.f. ...
... Even though subsidies are recognised as crucial at the formation stage, projects that are just subsidy-driven will normally end once the subsidy is gone. They end up as a showcase or a demo, without a revenue model and without any scalability perspectives [48]. Still, the combination of public and private funding sources can raise opposing priorities and various legal and ethical problems [38]. ...
Article
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Smart city initiatives are being promoted across the world to address major urban challenges, and they all share a common belief in the transformative power of digital technologies. However, the pace of innovation in smart cities seems to be much slower than the rapid and profoundly disruptive transformations brought about by digital innovation in many other domains. To develop new insights about the main causes behind this relatively modest success, this study provides a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on the connection between major smart city challenges and the essential properties of digital innovation. The review involved the qualitative analysis of 44 research papers reporting on smart city innovation practices and outcomes. The results characterize five major challenge categories for smart city innovation: Strategic vision; Organizational Capabilities and Agility; Technology Domestication; Ecosystem Development; and Transboundary Innovation. This study also explores the connections between these challenges and concrete digital innovation practices in smart city initiatives. The main conclusion is that current innovation practices in smart cities are not properly aligned with what the research literature commonly describes as core properties of digital innovation and that this might be a major cause behind the limited progress in smart city initiatives.
... Managerial boundary conditions involve institutional frameworks, processrelated issues, openness degrees of platforms, slow decision-making processes, alignment, uncertainty management, and change management that hamper the DP implementation process (e.g. Panori et al., 2021). ...
... Cennamo (2018) Missing features (MF) The platform must meet the technical requirements of the business network Peruchi et al. (2022) Data privacy and security (DPS) DP raises critical privacy and security concerns for individuals or consumers; which leads to ripple effects crossing over to firm-level issues (e.g., firm reputation), and societal issues (e.g., lack of trust in media and democratic institutions) Nambisan et al. (2019) Data collection and analysis (DCA) SMEs need to collect and analyse data precisely; which is a leverage point in producing a novel type of information that is necessary for effective design strategies toward strengthening place-based or mission-oriented developmental paths Panori et al. (2021) Hard communication process (HCP) More work to communicate and receive feedback on interactions. It is hard to contact when there were at least five attempts to communicate with the responsible person, and there was no response Peruchi et al. (2022) Quality assurance (QA) A traditional business model requires several stages of quality testing and verification before delivering products to the customers. ...
... Owing to the widespread use of the DP version of work worldwide, particularly in emerging countries, the boundary conditions in the transition towards the DP revolution have drawn a great deal of attention from worldwide academia, business owners, and new entrant entrepreneurs (Şimşek et al., 2021). The extant literature has identified and discussed the boundary conditions above using only qualitative methods (Broekhuizen et al., 2021;Panori et al., 2021). Hence, this paper theoretically provides in-depth qualitative and quantitative insights into the levelbased interaction between DP implementation boundary conditions towards TE within the SMEs of emerging economies. ...
Article
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Transformational entrepreneurship (TE) has become a prevalent mind-set to survive societal, ecological and economic sustainability factors, particularly in emerging economies. Interestingly, different types of digital platforms (DPs) (i.e., transaction, innovation and integration) have assisted in this transformation. Although the implementation of DPs by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been easing this transition process, several boundary conditions persist, and solutions are in demand. This research aims to investigate the main boundary conditions to DP execution by SMEs towards TE in emerging countries similar to Iran. Indisputably, this study contributes to providing in-depth qualitative and quantitative insights into level-based interactions between such barriers to TE diffusion among Iranian SMEs. In this regard, a mixed-method approach has been employed while extracting the list of DP boundary conditions via a systematic literature review. Then, in the quantitative section, a multi-layer decision-making approach consisting of Delphi, interpretive structural modelling (ISM), and matrix-based multiplication applied to a classification (MICMAC) has been applied to screen for the most important boundary conditions to TE, analyse the level-based interactions between the finalised boundary conditions and determine the importance and role of DP boundary conditions. To consider the uncertainty of the socioeconomic environment in emerging countries and to include the intuition and hesitation of the entrepreneurs in the analytical section, intuitionistic fuzzy sets were considered, and a novel IF-Delphi-ISM-MICMAC approach embedded with the multi-scenario analysis was performed. In either scenario, obstacles associated with extant laws and low governmental supportive policies, inconsistency between the technical requirements of the business network and DPs’ features, and low accessibility of digital technologies were the first-level boundary conditions.
... Un tema actual es el camino a la transformación de una ciudad tradicional en una ciudad inteligente, con el uso de tecnologías ha sido cada vez posible. Una Ciudad inteligente surge de la revolución y transformación tecnológica y Para Panori et al. (2021), "es la manifestación espacial de plataformas digitales atractivas hacia los actores de la innovación" (p.1). Poder realizar la planeación de una ciudad inteligente, requiere de una comprensión de todos los retos y componentes que se necesitan para realizar este trabajo. ...
... De acuerdo con Chaparro (2003), la innovación ha sido un evento colectivo, que los actores han adoptado, debido a las dificultades sociales y territoriales, la disponibilidad de infraestructura adecuada, a la acumulación del saber-hacer y a la presencia de instituciones o centros de investigación. Actualmente, los panoramas de la innovación se han conformado por la forma en que los sistemas de innovación se fusionan con el Internet, la contribución de las tecnologías y los entornos digitales de innovación han estado relacionadas con la conexión inteligente y colectiva entre personas y máquinas (Panori et al., 2021). Finalmente, en el contexto de ciudad inteligente, las innovaciones la hemos entendido como la creación, desarrollo y aplicación de nuevas ideas, productos, servicios y procesos, con el propósito de abordar y mejorar los desafíos sociales, la calidad de vida de las personas y contribuir al bienestar de la sociedad. ...
Article
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Introducción: La transformación digital, aplicado en el desarrollo de Ciudades inteligentes en México aún tiene muchas interrogantes y camino por recorrer. Este artículo adopta una orientación desde la innovación social. Objetivo: Encontrar las principales similitudes entre la diversidad de elementos y conceptos que tienen las Ciudades inteligentes y la Innovación social. En este análisis se pretende lograr un mayor entendimiento y reflexión sobre estas percepciones para evaluar los vínculos entre las mismas. Metodología: Fue del tipo cualitativo, con base en un análisis exploratorio de la revisión de la literatura, como punto de partida por medio de un mapeo de acuerdo a definiciones. Resultados: Se presentan las similitudes conceptuales para que en el desarrollo de Ciudades inteligentes se evalúe el vínculo e importancia desde una perspectiva de innovación social, colaborativa y centrada en sus ciudadanos. Conclusiones: En la época en la que han surgido distintos conceptos con múltiples actores involucrados, es de interés el uso de ideas asociadas con los conceptos urbanos desde una perspectiva de innovación social. Para ayudar al desarrollo de políticas públicas para lograr el bienestar del ciudadano y la creación de un impacto positivo.
... Functional knowledge economy (K.E.) spaces facilitate dynamic interactions among contextual knowledge creators, local enterprises, businesses, government entities, and the rural populace, which are prerequisites for prosperous rural societies (Lange et al., 2022;Zhang et al., 2022). However, the deficiency of K. E. spaces in rural areas, leading to non-existent, dysfunctional, and disconnected local ecosystem actors, has made the rural economy fragile (Westlund, 2006;Li et al., 2016Li et al., , 2019aTang and Zhu, 2020;Panori et al., 2021). The COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath have further exacerbated rural decline and hollowing out of rural areas (Gupta et al., 2021;Thanh et al., 2022). ...
... Digital platforms promote openness, shared access, collaboration, and transparency. They leverage network externalities and mimic the physical proximity of the traditional knowledge economy for increased interaction among actors (Panori et al., 2021;Stallkamp and Schotter, 2021). This results in an overarching geographical and non-geographical proximity that promotes regional innovations (Aguiléra et al., 2012;Crescenzi et al., 2016). ...
Article
Due to urban-centric development paradigms, actors in the rural business ecosystem and related interaction spaces have become adrift, resulting in the fragility of the rural knowledge economy (K. E.) and rural decline. Diverse organizations, including not-for-profits, civil societies, private agencies, and cooperatives, have taken cognizance of this significant issue and have promoted platform-based enterprises. While the literature emphasizes the role of digital platforms in strengthening rural resilience, it does not elaborate on the underlying mechanism. Consequently, the relationship between the K. E. spaces topologically mapped on the platform, contributing to increased actor interaction and rural resilience, remains underexplored. This motivates us to pose a fundamental question: Can digital platforms operating in rural areas function as K.E. spaces and foster actor interactions to strengthen rural resilience? Theoretically grounded in network externality theory, the triple-helix model, and the Resilience Assessment Benchmarking and Impact Toolkit framework, this study adopts a multiple case study approach utilizing literature synthesis, archival sources, and primary data from key informants of selected platform organizations operational in rural areas. The findings show that K. E. spaces enrich the rural knowledge economy by onboarding missing actors and augmenting proximity. This leads to increased actor interactions and enhanced rural resilience. This study proposes an emergent framework expositing a nexus between digital platforms, K. E. spaces, and rural resilience attributes and contributes to the growing body of rural resilience literature.
... Smart ecosystems offer a range of benefits, but they also present a number of challenges that need to be addressed. For smooth functionality of smart ecosystems, there is strong need for the development of new technologies and the need for greater collaboration between different stakeholders [76,77]. Also, the technology is unreliable in many applications and its development and deployment needs further boost by other technologies for complete reliance In this section we will highlight few issues that need to be taken care of. ...
... Smart ecosystems must be user-friendly and easy to use to encourage user adoption and acceptance. However, achieving user acceptance can be challenging, especially when the ecosystem requires significant behaviour changes or involves complex interactions with different devices or systems [76]. For example, a smart home system that requires users to interact with multiple apps or devices may be overwhelming and difficult to use. ...
Chapter
As global demand for the smart integrated systems is growing exponentially, development of smart ecosystems for seamless integration and interaction has become significantly important. A smart ecosystem is a collection of interconnected devices, technologies, and services that work together to create a seamless and efficient experience for the user. Smart eco-systems have the ability to use space more effectively, boost output, improve user experience, lower energy costs, and support more adaptable working conditions. Advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), the internet of things (IoT), edge computing, data analytics, high speed connectivity and autonomous decision-making algorithms power these ecosystems. These ecosystems can range from small, localized systems to large, global networks Examples of smart ecosystems include smart healthcare, smart cities, smart grids, and smart manufacturing. These ecosystems use a combination of sensors, actuators, and other devices to gather and analyze data, and then use that data to control and automate various processes and systems. They also often use cloud-based services to store and process data, and provide remote access and control. In this chapter we present typical architecture, applications and challenges faced in the design and development of Smart Ecosystems. The chapter starts with exploring why and the how Smart Ecosystems are essential to transform our society and day-to-day life. The most known and commonly used Smart systems are presented. The chapter continues with characteristics of a typical smart ecosystems, highlighting the main attractive features of the smart ecosystem, followed by its major components and applications smart ecosystems in various areas. Finally, the chapter concludes with summary of various challenges in the design/applicability of Smart Ecosystems in different industrial sectors from home automation to smart manufacturing to smart healthcare.
... Informational diversity is integral to both types of collectives in CI, encompassing diverse cognitive capabilities and varying societal backgrounds, including worldviews, socio-economic statuses, and professional backgrounds [39]. However, the impact of social influence on this diversity can introduce biases and polarisation, complicating the effective utilisation of CI in practical scenarios [3,40,41]. Centola highlights that reducing social influence could enhance CI in contexts like crowdsourcing; however, a certain level of social influence remains essential in expert organisations to maintain order and establish operational structures [35]. ...
Article
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This literature review critically examines the potential of collective intelligence (CI) to enhance theories of deliberative democracy and participatory governance through academic discourse. We employed PRISMA guidelines for systematic article selection, complemented by a narrative approach for in-depth thematic analysis and supplemented by quantitative methodologies such as Sankey diagrams and keyness analysis. Reviewing 61 scholarly articles focusing on CI within the public sector, this study identifies theoretical insights that could significantly impact the field of democratic innovations and participatory governance. Our analysis reveals that CI methodologies can make governance more inclusive and dynamic by integrating advanced digital tools that foster broader and more effective citizen participation. We conclude that integrating CI with deliberative democracy and participatory governance theories holds substantial promise for developing more responsive and adaptive governance models. Future research should focus on measuring deliberative quality in real time, deploying CI tools to empower underrepresented groups and address specific governance challenges, and examining CI’s ethical and social implications, especially concerning privacy, security, and power dynamics in technology-driven public decision-making.
... The contributions through the use of participatory methodologies such as citizen science, crowdsourcing, and co-creation projects (Panori et. al, 2021). Because of this participation, innovations will be more responsive, relevant, and aligned with the objectives of the larger community. ...
Chapter
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This book chapter explores the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging markets, with a specific focus on the Quadruple Helix Model. The Quadruple Helix Model emphasizes collaboration and interaction among four key actors: academia, government, industry, and civil society, to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. The chapter provides an overview of the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems and their significance in driving economic growth and societal development in emerging markets. The chapter discusses the expected roles and contributions of academia, government, industry, and civil society in building and nurturing entrepreneurial ecosystems. The chapter concludes by highlighting the importance of a holistic and collaborative approach to creating vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems that support innovation and growth and success of startups and entrepreneurs.
... Additionally, crowdsourcing platforms facilitate the collective sharing of knowledge, resources, and expertise among community members. Through these platforms, individuals can collaborate on problem-solving, innovation, and decision-making processes, leveraging the collective intelligence of the community to address energy challenges effectively [44]. ...
Article
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This paper argues that sustainable development and regional intelligence can be markedly advanced through the strategic application of bottom-up initiatives, emphasizing participatory vision setting, collaborative production, and resource acquisition via crowdfunding and cooperatives. The study explores how these components are practically implemented within the context of three HORIZON2020 EU projects spanning the period from 2019 to 2024: citizen science hubs, makerspaces, and community bioenergy initiatives. By examining these projects, the paper identifies and analyzes the key elements of regional intelligence that are strengthened through bottom-up approaches. Qualitative analysis reveals that community-based initiatives grounded in citizen science principles play a pivotal role in enhancing citizen trust, transparency, and public engagement. The establishment of citizen science hubs facilitates inclusive decision-making processes and empowers local communities to actively participate in scientific endeavors, thereby fostering a deeper integration of local knowledge into regional development strategies. Moreover, makerspaces, as platforms for collaborative production, promote principles of the circular economy by encouraging resource reuse and promoting sustainable manufacturing practices. They also serve as catalysts for user-driven innovation, facilitating the creation of customized solutions tailored to local needs. Finally, community-driven bioenergy initiatives contribute to sustainable energy production, diversify energy sources, reduce fossil fuel dependency, and enhance regional resilience. Cooperatives play a crucial role in improving organizational efficiency and sustainability, enabling local stakeholders to scale initiatives, maximize impact, and promote equitable distribution of benefits, fostering social cohesion and inclusivity. The findings underscore the critical importance of bottom-up strategies in advancing sustainable development goals through increased regional intelligence. By integrating these initiatives into regional policies and practices, policymakers can leverage local knowledge and resources to address complex challenges, promote innovation, and build resilient, inclusive communities capable of navigating future challenges.
... These partnerships can also facilitate knowledge sharing between academic institutions and industry, ensuring that research is aligned with real-world needs. Additionally, engaging the private sector in policymaking processes can help identify emerging trends and challenges, allowing for the co-creation of effective AI policies (Panori et al., 2021). ...
Article
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The rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents both significant opportunities and challenges for developing countries. A well-structured policy framework is crucial to maximize the benefits of AI while mitigating its risks. This review proposes a comprehensive AI policy framework tailored to developing countries, emphasizing the need for robust infrastructure, capacity building, ethical governance, and economic incentives. Key elements include the development of digital infrastructure, education and training programs to enhance AI literacy, and ethical guidelines to ensure fairness and transparency in AI applications. Data governance and privacy protections are critical, particularly in countries where regulatory frameworks are underdeveloped. Furthermore, international cooperation is highlighted as a necessity for aligning local policies with global AI standards, facilitating cross-border data sharing, and ensuring equitable access to AI innovations. The potential impact of AI on economic growth, job creation, healthcare, education, and public service delivery is profound, yet challenges such as workforce displacement, increased inequality, and the digital divide must be carefully managed. The proposed framework addresses these challenges, providing strategies to overcome barriers to AI adoption, including financial constraints, governance issues, and unequal access to technology. Moreover, it stresses the importance of fostering public-private partnerships and ensuring that AI development is inclusive, benefiting all segments of society. By implementing a comprehensive AI policy framework, developing countries can harness AI's transformative power to drive sustainable development, improve social outcomes, and strengthen their economic standing in the global landscape. This review concludes by recommending continuous policy evaluation and adaptation to keep pace with AI's rapid evolution.
... Past projects have shown that different challenges occur when using urban participation platforms and that it is difficult to achieve the described benefits and objectives [97]. This is attributed to a lack of corresponding infrastructure beyond informing and collecting data via surveys and polls [98] and features that support interactions and in-depth exchange in a fully digital environment [62,72]. In addition, as the communication and interactions in fully digital environments are usually text-based and anonymous [24], citizens rarely receive any follow-up and proper feedback for their contributions, which can result in a lack of motivation [92,94], interest, and conviction that their participation and contributions will create value and will be considered. ...
Conference Paper
Urbanization has increased societal tensions and led to the growth of citizen participation in urban planning, which is often conducted in computer-supported environments and progressively online to include a high number of citizens. Past projects have shown that digital participation creates new challenges and that collaborative online discussions do not achieve the quality of on-site scenarios, as the interactions, in-depth exchange of opinions, and quality of contributions vary. Within a design science research project, we examine how to support citizens in creating comprehensible contributions on urban participation platforms. We identify issues, formulate meta-requirements, and derive design principles to implement feasible prototypes that we evaluated in focus groups. Our findings extend the existing research about urban participation platforms in civic tech, urban informatics, and planning, with validated design principles that specify AI-based feedback and further features to increase interactions and support citizens in producing more specific contributions.
... Digital transformation is shaping the innovation landscape and the configurations of countries' innovation systems (Panori et al., 2021). The phenomenon has gathered substantial attention in the fields of information systems (Vial, 2019), management Hanelt et al., 2021), innovation studies (Appio et al., 2024;Nambisan et al., 2019), and multidisciplinary research (Verhoef et al., 2021), for it has a significant potential to introduce innovation and enhance the competitiveness of firms (Fleury et al., 2024;Nambisan et al., 2019;Zhou et al., 2023). ...
... Innovation as a process refers to how organizations should encourage the development of novelties for enjoyable outcomes (Visvizi et al., 2021). Digital innovation's human and social dimension should involve the creation of new knowledge, which can enhance accountability stimulating civic interest in community issues, as well as increasing stakeholder engagement, and enabling electronic interaction with community stakeholders (Feeney and Brown, 2017;Panori et al., 2021). In remote areas, these advantages would also allow breaking down the barriers associated with distance, proximity, or mobility (Riccucci and Holzer, 2011). ...
Article
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Purpose This study aims to explore what and how digital innovation, as a knowledge-based and multi-dimensional process, can be used to increase the accountability of public and private sector organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Taking an interpretivist approach, qualitative research is designed around Strong Structuration Theory (SST). A content analysis of relevant documents and semi-structured interviews focusing on the relationships between digital innovation and accountability in extraordinary times is conducted. Findings The results show the existence of digital innovation barriers and facilitators that can have an impact on accountability during extraordinary times. The research highlights how managers of public organizations focus largely on the social dimension of knowledge (i.e., competencies shaped by collective culture), while managers of private organizations focus mainly on the human dimension of knowledge (i.e., skills gained through learning by doing). Research limitations/implications The paper enriches the accountability literature by historicizing SST for extraordinary times and by utilizing a multiple-dimensional approach to digital innovation. Also, the work underlines specific strategies organizations could usefully adopt to improve accountability through digital innovation in the public and private sectors during extraordinary times. Originality/value This article emphasizes the crucial integration of technological components with knowledge. In particular, the digital innovation is considered as a strong synergy of human and social dimensions that compels organizations toward enhanced accountability, particularly in the face of extraordinary challenges.
... Other studies have also explored platform thinking and its influence on the traditional supply chain (Iacovidou et al., 2021;Panori et al., 2021;Grabham and Manu, 2022). However, there is still a need for a more participatory and practice-oriented research approach to develop digital platforms that effectively meet the needs expressed by practitioners (Cambier et al., 2020;D'Amico et al., 2022). ...
Article
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Digitalization has gained recognition as a crucial factor for implementing circular economy principles in construction. However, digital platforms for circular construction do not adequately match supply and demand in the emerging secondary materials and products market yet. Therefore, this research questions how digital matchmaking platforms could be (re)defined to better support circular construction practitioners. By applying a participatory action research methodology with a technical assistance provider, the study employs a three-stage research design to comprehensively identify, collect, and react to stakeholders' needs in the French context, experiencing recent policy change. Our resulting butterfly matchmaking model defines two distinct, yet interoperable matchmaking loops: the first one matches auditors, contractors, and collectors for deconstruction, and the second one matches designers, contractors, and dealers for construction. This strategy presents a paradigm shift in current platform thinking by ensuring autonomy for circular construction and deconstruction as well as by providing a multi-sided matchmaking environment for key stakeholders' inclusion. Our proposition prompts platform developers to transition from mainstream project-centered matchmaking to a more holistic profession-centered matchmaking approach. By promoting tighter coordination between digitalization, policy, and practice, we contribute to the development of advanced digital matchmaking platforms, supporting the industrialization of circular construction. These results will be used to develop a functional prototype of a digital matchmaking platform for analyzing real business models.
... However, as the research has emphasized, research discourse partly lacks on re-shaping S3 understanding towards future-driven needssustainability transition. Only a few research articles can be put in this specific research area, though they are elaborate S3 and European Green Deal implications (Larosse et al., 2020), the new idea of Smart Specialisation 2.0 (Kakderi 2020;Panori et al. 2021;Masana 2022) but also introducing a Sustainable Smart Specialisation Strategy (S4) discourse, which is currently only based on improvements in EDP application (Laranja, 2021;Kangas and Ryynänen, 2022). In this, the paper in hands can be supplemented to the research discourse of EDPs as well but goes beyond the sole elaboration and improvement of EDPs by introducing the actor-network theory as a novelty and theoretical contribution to S3 discourse, placing the EDP in quadruple-helix approaches to enable further aspects for S3 design. ...
Article
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Smart Specialisation Strategies, their planning and implementation are becoming more important in Europe's transition but also bring up several challenges, especially when it comes to complex innovation processes and requirements arising from the call for sustainable development on several levels. Even though the concept of Smart Specialisation has been elaborated on in a lot of research, the literature still lacks sufficient theoretical justification for the policy concept, resulting in a gap between theory and practice in terms of Smart Specialisation Strategy design and implementation. In this context, this paper provides cross-linkages to evidentially drivers of sustainability transition such as social innovation, cross-border cooperation, Entrepreneurial Discovery Processes and creative innovation. The exploration of synergies towards these concepts under S3 is still scant. The conducted research is based on an extensive literature review and uses a comparative analysis of Smart Specialisation and Actor-Network Theory. By applying Actor-Network Theory within Smart Specialisation Strategy research discourse, known problems of the concept might be overcome, Entrepreneurial Discovery Processes can be improved, and critical concepts for sustainability transition can be well incorporated into S3 understanding. In this, conducted research is also breaking new ground in theoretical conceptualization by providing the analysis and crosslinks of Actor-Network Theory with Smart Specialisation Strategies. Moreover, the integration of essential aspects towards sustainability transition under S3 can be enabled through the Actor-Network Theory application as it opens further research streams to be integrated into Smart Specialisation, such as social innovation and creative industries.
... A large number of participants is beneficial for effective e-participation because it generates broader, more diverse, and more comprehensive knowledge than the experts (Panori et al., 2021;. Consequently, the volume and complexity of the generated contributions increase, and experts lack the resources and skills to fully exploit the potential of this knowledge pool. ...
Conference Paper
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This paper explores the application of machine learning to analyze citizens' inputs from e-participation to support participation and urban experts. Through eleven semi-structured expert interviews, the collection of four datasets from past participation, and the systematic analysis of them according to the knowledge discovery in the database framework, we identified five fundamental challenges in current approaches and developed an ML-based process model for clustering citizens' inputs. To do so, we created a preprocessing and ML model training pipeline, proved its feasibility by its implementation, and described it in detail as a baseline for further research in this domain. However, comparing expert-generated clusters with those from ML models revealed some distinctions due to differing mental models emphasizing the need for further models and expert-friendly interfaces. With the developed process model, this paper contributes to the citizen design science model by offering practitioners a flexible analysis approach and guidance.
... The results present living labs as the most utilized and efficient method for service design in the context of smart cities within the EU. [127] highlight the necessity of co-creative partnerships to address the social challenges of smart cities. [128] analyze digital twins in the field of smart cities, considering the co-creation process as a critical component to its successful design and implementation. [129] highlights the importance of collaboration between service providers and beneficiaries in smart cities. ...
Article
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Utilizing readily accessible information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as mobile devices, applications, and simple Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and harnessing their potential through Experimentation as a Service (EaaS), crowdsensing, and gamification, represents one of the most effective approaches to implementing co-creation in smart cities. The benefits of this bottom-up approach are closely related to accurately identifying the real needs of city residents and increasing the chances of designing and implementing solutions with genuine impact, ensuring equity, social inclusion, sustainability, and community resilience. This paper investigates the utilization of ICTs to support social sustainability by analyzing 157 smart city projects funded under the Horizon 2020 program at the European Union level and 5 smart city projects from Canada. The results reveal the utilization of technological solutions such as testbeds, living labs, EaaS, crowdsensing, open data, and more for co-creation in smart city projects. In the discussion part, we point out the importance of focusing on technologies that are familiar to the beneficiaries and on leveraging resources already available as wearable devices or in the citizens’ homes, the versatility of the technological solutions analyzed, the role of heterogeneous and open data, and cross-disciplinary teams in creating new perspectives on urban problems, reducing inequity in the development of solutions to solve them. The concerns raised and problems reported relate to the technology itself (errors in operation), users (difficulties in stimulating their involvement and keeping it constant), and data (quality of data collected, difficult to process, ethics and security of data collection and use). Based on our results, we extract, synthetize and present six distinct categories of lessons learned by the implementation teams of the analyzed projects.
... In the case of polls and voting on participation platforms, the analysis can be conducted automatically due to the numerical representation of how many participants voted for or against a statement, a topic, the project's objective, specifications, or implementation . As soon as a more in-depth exchange is required and the collection of contributions from citizens in the form of text is required, the effort and complexity to analyze and evaluate it increases strongly with the number of participants and comments (Panori et al., 2021;Reynante et al., 2021). As numerical elicitations are limited and co-creative approaches require a more in-depth and intense exchange, including discussions and forums, the amount of qualitative data has increased (Lieven et al., 2021;Royo et al., 2020). ...
Conference Paper
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E-participation and urban participation platforms have gained significant popularity in addressing thousands of participants. Governments and urban developers utilize them to collect citizens' input to develop user-centric cities and services. Handling these inputs has become increasingly challenging as it requires manual analysis, which is time-consuming, inconsistent, and expensive. Therefore, we examine how to design IT artifacts to support the AI-based analysis of citizens' inputs from e-participation. To do so, we build upon existing literature reviews that highlight the possibilities of AI and apply the design science research paradigm by conducting expert interviews and developing an AI-based prototype, which we evaluated with a focus group. Our initial design theory specifies six design principles addressing the process and AI-based functions to enable the automatized analysis of citizens' inputs, supporting e-participation experts. In addition, we emphasize that further research addressing the explainability of ML, more accurate models, trust, and human-AI interaction is required.
... It describes the capacity of community-led initiatives to cooperate toward creation and innovation activities. Increased participation and agglomeration externalities between distributed actors across a broad range of activities are core elements for effective social innovation (Kenney & Zysman, 2020;Panori et al., 2020). ...
Chapter
Research relevant to the twin transition has been predominantly focusing on technical aspects, such as the effects of digital technologies on reducing greenhouse emissions, following a rather fragmented approach on certain aspects of either the green or digital transformations. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of nontechnical aspects also participating in these processes, stating the need for multidisciplinary approaches in understanding the underlying mechanisms and multiple effects of the twin transition, as well as the need to provide insights in how to make the transition more efficient. In terms of policy, twin transition brings together business and institutional actors bridging top-down EU Industrial Strategy initiatives with bottom-up regional ecosystems. This chapter focuses on understanding the role of digital space on multiple expressions of the twin transition, covering its technical, sustainability and social aspects.
... During this process, digital platforms and tools can leverage individual, technological, and collaborative intelligence for increasing productivity. Wider engagement and collaboration result in better and wider forms of consensus, as well as increased transparency between various levels of interaction, leading to transformative changes in the innovation ecosystems (Panori et al., 2021). ...
Chapter
Space is a notion that has triggered many debates through time. Various approaches have been introduced to define space and its characteristics. This chapter provides a brief presentation on the various definitions of space as an initial point of this book, starting with the early approaches related to the absolute conceptions of space and moving on to its relative conceptions.
... Recently, the European Commission has experienced a significant digital transition through which it tries to boost the resilience of various European regions toward making them more competitive, sustainable, and inclusive toward external shocks. In this regard, investigating the interactions rising between the social and technical elements of regional systems is an essential point when considering the prospects of resilience at the regional level (Komninos, Kakderi, Mora, Panori, & Sefertzi, 2022;Panori et al., 2021). ...
Chapter
The chapter focuses on exploring the notion of resilience and its relation to digital space. Resilience is a key element closely related to regional transformation processes, as it affects the capacity of regions to adapt in external shocks and transitions. In this context, the chapter builds on the interplay between digital space, resilience, and green transition processes, initially exploring the ways in which digital applications have affected resilience in recent shocks, including climate change and natural disasters, COVID-19, and the energy crisis. It then further elaborates on specific expressions of digital space, cyber-physical systems, and human-machine networks that have been found significant for boosting resilience through R&I programs, identifying specific areas of their application (smart grids, digital services, autonomous vehicles, and robotics). Finally, it provides an overview of the current EU policy framework that is mostly related to resilience, the EU Green Deal, and discusses the ways in which digital space can be embedded for fostering its potential outcomes.
... Firstly, digital transformation alleviates transaction costs resulting from information asymmetry between trading parties. Digital transformation not only reduces information asymmetry between the innovation product market and the consumer market but also facilitates low-cost penetration of information, which can lower the cost of innovation trial and error and enhance regional innovation efficiency [12,[14][15][16]. Additionally, innovation activities require significant resources in terms of manpower, funds, and time, while innovation outcomes and performance are inherently uncertain. ...
Article
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Digital transformation, based on digital technologies, has triggered economic growth in many industries and brought about production and service transformation in the manufacturing sector. As an important source of innovation output and a driving force for national economic development, it is of great significance to study the impact of digital transformation on innovation output in manufacturing companies. This study analyzes the effects of digital transformation on the quality, quantity, and overall innovation output of manufacturing companies from both the macro provincial-level digital transformation and micro enterprise-level digital transformation perspectives. Additionally, using data from manufacturing companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2012 to 2022, this study empirically tests the mechanism through which digital transformation affects innovation output from the perspectives of internal transaction costs and external transaction costs. The results show that digital transformation promotes overall improvement in innovation output of manufacturing companies and leads to improvements in both the quality and quantity of innovation output. Furthermore, the study finds that the effect of digital transformation on innovation output has a nonlinear characteristic under different levels of market competitiveness and market freedom. The mediation analysis reveals that the influence of digital transformation on innovation output can be attributed to the reduction of internal transaction costs and the enhancement of external transaction efficiency. In terms of digital policy formulation, it is necessary to coordinate the development of diverse and innovative digital infrastructure at the macro level with the micro-level ecosystems of enterprises, in order to reduce transaction costs within and outside innovative entities. Ultimately, it is essential for the government to foster a conducive free market environment that enhances transaction efficiency and timely regulates the excessive competition resulting from oligopolistic monopolies, thus maximizing the potential of digital transformation in promoting innovation output.
... For instance, they might argue that factors such as resource accessibility, the degree of external collaborations, and workforce digital literacy and skills are more important in determining how well educational institutions perform in terms of innovation [19]. Digital platform capability provides basic information for innovation activities in an organization [37]. Hence, current research proposes that digital innovation performs a mediating role between DPC and innovation performance. ...
Article
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Digital technologies have transformed business models quickly, making sustainable, inventive performance essential for the survival of businesses, particularly in emerging markets. However, a lot of English educational institutions struggle to make use of digital platform capability (DPC) due to a lack of funding, resources, and experience that stifles prospects for advanced innovation. After the COVID-19 pandemic, this study suggests a framework to investigate how English educational institutions might improve their innovation performance using DPC. The study examines the relationship between digital innovation (DI) and innovation performance (IP), as well as the moderating effects of digital technology (DT). This study uses a quantitative methodology and questionnaire survey with 435 respondents from institutions that support DPC. The analysis examines the hypotheses using correlations, regression analyses, and 5000 bootstraps. The results demonstrate a positive relationship between DPC and IP, with DI acting as a mediator. Additionally, the outcomes show that the development of digital technology strengthens the positive influence of DPC on innovation performance. Through filling research gaps, this study adds to the body of knowledge. It also has significant management implications for English educational institutions looking to improve their innovation performance by fostering digital platform ability and digital innovation.
... However, the importance of S3 monitoring and evaluation is contradicting its current scientific status quo (Mora et al., 2019). S3 monitoring has been analysed in several research streams and, indeed, one research trend can be recognised in the ex-ante of S3 monitoring period, i. e. during the transition phase between the funding periods (Arnold, 2004;EC, 2014;Gianelle & Kleibrink, 2015;Magro & Wilson, 2013;Masana & Fernández, 2019;Panori et al., 2020;Prause, 2014). However, at the end of first S3 implementation phase, current research is continuing to search for sufficient S3 monitoring approaches (Masana, 2022). ...
Thesis
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The thesis aims at examining and improving understanding of Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) set-up and its positioning within Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) design and implementation, thus enabling regional sustainable development. S3 as well as Research and Innovation Strategies on Smart Specialisation (RIS3) receive increasing interest in regional innovation policy planning and governance, in particular, considering the current transition of this policy from period 2014–2020 towards 2021–2027. In this sense, regional decision-makers do not only have to learn from the first implementation period, but also to develop capacity to re-shape those strategies in order to meet future demands as well as to achieve objectives, as set in the European and international agendas, e.g. the European Green Deal, UN Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030, New European Bauhaus or Fit for 55 Package. In other words, European regional policy-making is under pressure to set up the path for future S3 design and implementation for 2021–2027 and beyond, keeping in mind the objective to accelerate both multi-scalar and multi-layer sustainable development. Nevertheless, as the literature and available research initiatives demonstrates, the nexus of EDPs, S3 and sustainability stays rather below the radar. S3 design shows tangible drawbacks in finding the link between theory and practice, and EDP implementation misses sound theoretical foundation. At the present moment, S3 idea is still strongly connected to technology-driven innovation thinking and acting, which, in turn, ignores crucial aspects and wastes innovation potentials, thus jeopardising sustainable transition in a region. Unfortunately, social innovation concepts or socio-ecological tenets and their impact towards sustainable development have not been elaborated or incorporated as key building blocks into S3 design and implementation yet. The same applies to Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), which have proven paramount innovation capacities and competences to moderate relations between involved actors in a function of creative brokers, thus guiding and facilitating development and implementation of EDPs, which are, indeed, one of the core concepts in S3 policy-making. The thesis is based on Qualitative Content Analysis research strategy. To answer the Central Research Question (CRQ), three Research Questions (RQs) are introduced and individually addressed throughout sufficient research methodologies. Thus, the thesis delivers results, which are based on multi-method approach. This approach deploys different research methods, the selection thereof being based on the specific research question to be answered. As a result of the implemented research methodology, this thesis provides different insights to address the EDP set-up and its improvement both from regional and entrepreneurial level. First, a Transnational RIS3 Observatory Model is developed and introduced. The model is based on the introduction of a harmonised procedure dedicated to choose S3 thematic priorities in European regions. As a result, the model enables to effectively overcome well-known research problems of S3 monitoring in terms of covering aspects of comparability, multi-level approach and performance measuring. In this vein, the thesis in hand undertakes a novel research path in conceptualising S3 monitoring model and thus enhancing to available scientific literature. Furthermore, the present work connects social innovation and CCIs to the S3 domain, including spill-overs on how to utilise those concepts for sustainability transition in innovation policies. In both cases, the thesis calls for a higher involvement of social capital and creative brokers, which qualify as key actors and regional assets within S3 design and implementation based on Quadruple helices. In addition, the deployment of regional assets for innovation application and EDPs is a crucial aspect in the place-base theory realm to be used to explain and discuss S3 phenomena. However, an analysis undertaken for the Blue Economy – which in its innovation and sustainable development meaning shows conceptual overlaps with S3 priority of Blue Growth – shows rather low utilisation of those potentials for S3 policy implementation. More precisely, the analysis yields low uptake of ports as regional assets and innovators into S3 priority set-up, although once integrated into regional S3, ports as Blue Economy actors enhance their innovation capacity and might generate higher positive effects in terms of better placed-based port performance. The present work also offers a first attempt in promoting cross-border cooperation as a contributor to S3 design and implementation. Despite the fact that cross-border cooperation is a well-known concept facilitating innovation, it has neither has been connected yet to the S3 discourse, nor its potential unveiled for S3. These potentials are addressed and showcased for EDP design and implementation by exploring a particular sector of multi-functional agriculture, which conceptually merges under one roof several S3 objectives. In sum, the thesis offers both theoretical and practical contributions dedicated to current EDP and S3 research and enhances the scant literature on the intertwining of EDPs and S3 with sustainable development. Indeed, sustainable development serves as a principal impetus for the researcher to continue this path in future discussion and incorporation of new concepts into S3 design and implementation.
... The widespread use of platforms in different domains and functions of the city (e.g. [36], [37], [38], [39], [40]) has given rise to the concept of 'platform urbanism', whichas one of the latest developments of the smart city-is focused on the integration of platforms into the design, management, and governance of urban spaces. More specifically, it refers to data-centered and digitally-enabled socio-technological assemblages, typically performed on a platform, rooted in the urban system, which facilitate the emergence of new social and material relationships including intermediations and transactions [41]. ...
Chapter
Digital transformation has brought about significant changes in nearly all aspects of urban life, including mobility, energy, economy, and governance. In recent years, many cities have pursued smart city initiatives in order to address emerging urbanization and sustainability issues. However, the existing top-down approaches to smart city initiatives have resulted in decreased citizen participation, which, in turn, can lead to decision-making processes that lack inclusivity, diversity, trust, and accountability. As such, there is a growing interest in the potential of digital platforms for enhancing citizen participation in sustainable urban planning and development. This paper delves into the concept of platform urbanism and examines the capabilities of urban digital platforms in facilitating co-creation and innovation for sustainable and livable cities. Furthermore, it provides a number of select case studies, in order to explore how digital platforms can enhance public participation and contribute to more democratic and inclusive urban planning processes. Finally, critical questions and considerations related to the use of urban platforms are highlighted, and corresponding conclusions and insights about the future of urban platforms are discussed.KeywordsDigital PlatformsPlatform UrbanismSustainable Urban DevelopmentCitizen Engagement
... Complex organizational structures with rigid formal processes limit the flow of information on experimentation with new technologies and impact assessment, reducing openness. However, untapping the potential of AI and BDA technologies in smart city public services requires coordination between various policy fields and breaking of silos, while it also poses challenges for common evaluation frameworks Panori et al., 2020). ...
Chapter
This chapter argues that smart cities offer a perfect testbed for experimentation with disruptive technologies on public services across different domains, such as utilities (water, waste, recycling), transportation, environmental protection, safety and security (police, fire protection), health, government processes (tax collection, registers) and decision making. Smart cities occur on the intersection of digital technologies, disruptive innovation, and urban environments. The main concept we introduce in this chapter envisages a data-enhanced future and efficiency gains made possible by automation of services and utilities, considering aspects that might jeopardize data security and safety, as well as increase urban inequalities. In this regard, we argue that the impact of smart city public services is still largely untapped by the monolithic architecture of existing smart cities and the fragmentation of smart city solutions and services across different city ecosystems and domains, working in silos with little interoperability and knowledge interaction between them. Therefore, our approach aims to propose a new framework for smart city services design based on combining different microservices and enhancing them with AI and BDA features for further exploring existing datasets generated within a smart city.
... The United Kingdom focuses on government applications and capabilities, application development, such as collaborative, innovative platforms that make them more open, participatory and experimental [18], data security promoting and protecting the broader public interest, and transport infrastructure projects aimed at transforming inclusive, scalable, and coordinated [19]. Meanwhile, government capabilities are directed at city administrators to regulate development services globally [19], mobile data-centric service development to produce beautiful, provocative, socially inclusive interactive public art through human-centered design techniques, and ICT-driven policymaking to providing service platforms. ...
Chapter
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The study aims to analyze the success of the Smart City strategy in Italy, England, the United States, and Spain. This study uses qualitative research methods with bibliometric analysis. Data for 501 articles were obtained from Scopus keywords “Smart City” and “Project,” the definition of social science in the last ten years. The four highest countries are Italy 66, United Kingdom 58, United States 54 and Spain 42. Data analysis uses VOSviewer and NVivo12 software to find trending themes. The results show that the strategy’s success is supported by three factors, system, application, and government. Italy focuses on applications and systems; application development includes building platforms, open-source technologies, and urban data platforms. System development emphasizes the design of support systems, system effectiveness, and transportation systems. The UK focuses on applications and governance, including application development, collaborative innovation platforms, data security, and transport infrastructure projects. Development is directed at city administrators, mobile data-centric service development, and ICT-driven policymaking. The United States focuses on government development, city challenges, sustainable development, and urban development. Spain focuses on application development, efficient energy, competent government, and urban participatory policymaking. The success of the smart city strategy is strongly influenced by application development. Future research is expected to discuss empirical testing of the conceptual framework developed by intelligent cities with the web of science.KeywordsComparisonInnovative strategySmart city
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This paper explores the transformative potential of digital platforms in fostering resilient and intelligent urban environments, a critical need considering rapid urbanization and climate change. Through a comparative analysis of various digital platforms in global cities, this study identifies their role in enhancing operational efficiency, participatory governance, and urban innovation. Utilizing a structured maturity model based on the ISO 37123 standard for resilient communities, this research highlights the specific challenges faced by cities at different stages of digital transformation and provides practical recommendations for implementing digital solutions that integrate resilience, sustainability, and smart governance. The analysis underscores the importance of aligning digital platform development with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), offering a pathway for cities to enhance resilience, optimize resource use, and promote citizen engagement.
Chapter
This chapter investigates the pivotal role of the metaverse in reshaping knowledge management's geographical dimensions. It delves into the differentiation of knowledge types—tacit, codified, and place-based—and their relevance within organizational strategies, emphasizing the importance of contextualizing place-based knowledge to leverage industrial diversity. The chapter elaborates on how the metaverse, an embodiment of Web 3.0 technologies, can transcend traditional geographical limitations, fostering a new global collaboration and innovation era. Analyzing the metaverse's capacity to host dynamic, immersive environments for knowledge exchange underscores the potential for virtual spaces to facilitate unprecedented levels of collaboration and knowledge dissemination. The discussion extends to the implications of these developments for regional innovation, arguing for a nuanced understanding of knowledge management that incorporates both technical and geographical insights. This synthesis of concepts highlights the metaverse's transformative potential in bridging the gap between local context and global reach, proposing a future where knowledge management is intricately linked with virtual environments to drive innovation and competitive advantage in a globally interconnected world.
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A transformação digital impulsionou a adoção de sistemas e plataformas digitais na gestão pública. Apesar do caráter frequentemente compulsório, a aceitação e o uso dessas plataformas impactam diretamente os resultados da gestão e na qualidade de vida da população. Este estudo visa compreender as interações entre indivíduos e plataformas digitais de gestão pública, propondo a Escala de Aceitação e Uso de Plataformas Digitais de Gestão Pública (EACUP). Fundamentado na Teoria Unificada de Aceitação e Uso de Tecnologia (UTAUT), testou-se a EACUP em uma instituição de Ciência e Tecnologia, a Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. A análise fatorial e inferencial permitiu identificar os fatores que influenciam a aceitação e o uso das plataformas. O modelo preditivo identificou dois fatores principais: Segurança e Responsabilidade Digital e Frequência de Uso das Plataformas Digitais. A análise fatorial revelou a dependência do segundo fator em relação ao primeiro. A aceitação e o uso dependem da percepção de benefícios para o trabalho, a instituição e a sociedade, superando a importância da acessibilidade e da segurança. A EACUP comprovou ser um instrumento confiável para avaliar a aceitação e o uso de plataformas digitais de gestão pública. Como a pesquisa se limita a uma instituição de Ciência e Tecnologia, a ampliação da amostra para outras instituições pode aumentar a confiabilidade da EACUP como indicador de inclusão de novas plataformas e aprimorar a gestão pública. Este estudo contribui para a compreensão da dinâmica da aceitação e do uso de plataformas digitais de gestão pública na era do governo digital.
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The escalating inherent technological risks in adopting smart devices result from the convergence of technology, risk, and artificial intelligence. Smart devices are electronic gadgets that process information and send and receive data over an information-transmitting network like the Internet. They include devices such as smartphones, tablets, and phablets, and the loss of risk intention or risk capital in entrepreneurial and market terms are considered entrepreneurial and market risk updates. However, the term "update" is more relative and descriptive than "loss" in risk terms and is taken from the computer software terminology, where an update is a new, modified, or supplementary information provided after the original issue. More specifically, an update is an addition or change to the software designed to enhance, fix, or improve it. Therefore, the planned introduction of smart device capabilities or enhancements can be considered updates in market terms. A risk update encompasses the meanings of increase and decrease and the absence of change, and it may be positive or negative in relation to risk. (PETRARIU and LAVRIC2021)(Rathee et al.2024)(Sun et al.2022)
Technical Report
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Questo report presenta i risultati di un progetto di ricerca multidisciplinare che esplora il modo in cui le disuguaglianze vengono concepite e valutate nel contesto delle iniziative legate agli smart places. L’analisi si concentra su due città di media grandezza in Italia e in Scozia e mette in luce una serie di carenze nel modo in cui le disuguaglianze vengono affrontate e valutate dagli attori locali coinvolti nelle iniziative di smart places. Per ovviare a queste carenze, il report propone una serie di raccomandazioni rivolte sia alle amministrazioni pubbliche sia alle organizzazioni della società civile impegnate a ridurre le disuguaglianze negli smart places.
Technical Report
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This report presents the results of a multidisciplinary research project exploring how inequalities are conceived and assessed in the context of smart places. The analysis focuses on two second-tier cities in Italy and Scotland and highlights a series of shortcomings in how inequalities are dealt with by policymakers and practitioners. To address these shortcomings, the authors propose a set of recommendations targeting both public administrations at different geographic levels and civil society organisations committed to reducing inequalities in smart places.
Chapter
This chapter investigates the core building blocks of externality emergence, having the various proximity forms as a key aspect of diversification. More specifically, we will use routines as a starting point for our analysis connecting them with productivity and innovation processes. Empirical examples will enable us to decompose a set of routines into their main entities, for which we will identify a set of digital elements that can be used to reproduce those routines in digital space toward empowering externalities. This chapter aims at developing a concrete theoretical bridge between the abstract notion of externalities and the physical elements of the digital space.
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This chapter analyzes the various channels through which digital space influences the emergence or reduction of regional inequalities, encompassing aspects like accessibility, skills, and governance. The focus is placed on the transformative changes that digital space introduces to territorial inclusion processes, serving as a catalyst for the emergence of proximity-based opportunities through entrepreneurial discovery, while simultaneously enhancing flexibility and amplifying the effects of knowledge spillovers. Finally, the examination extends to the transformative impact of digital space on the policy landscape, with a specific focus on the EU Cohesion Policy and the Digital Decade. This analysis reveals new opportunities and, at the same time, presents fresh challenges in the pursuit of territorial inclusion.
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Abstract The concept of a smart city has emerged to address significant challenges arising from rapid urbanization, economic growth, and climate change. Innovative technology solutions can be used as a means to promote sustainable and inclusive urban development. Effective strategies such as the deployment of the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), energy management, and smart transportation. In the smart city, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are playing a vital role in efficient traffic management. This paper explores the use of hybrid artificial intelligence techniques for predicting short-term traffic flow data from M25 motorways in the UK. Since volume traffic flow data are non-stationary, wavelet transform (WT) as a powerful signal analyzer is applied for signal decomposition for the elimination of redundant data from input matrices. The feature selection method based on Gram-Schmidt (GS) is used for the selection of more valuable features. The elimination of redundant data can speed up the learning process and improve the generalisation capability of the prediction models. After a pre-processing stage, a wavelet neural network (WNN) with a simple structure is applied as a powerful prediction tool. Two separate structures are considered for the prediction of weekday and weekend traffic volume data. The experiments explore that the debauchies-4 (db4) wavelet function with 7 decomposition levels leads to the best detection accuracy. Moreover, the range of forecasting, the type of the day, the level of decomposition, and other factors all have an impact on prediction stability. Compared with existing prediction methods, the proposed approach produces lower values of root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) for all step-horizons analyzed. These findings provide valuable implications and insights into the development of an efficient and reliable road condition monitoring system for delivering secure and sustainable transportation services.
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With an emphasis on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and data analytics, this research offers a methodical empirical evaluation of cutting-edge technologies in the field of smart manufacturing. The findings indicate notable progress in the abilities of the employees. Employee 2 had an astounding 30% gain in machine learning competence, while Employee 3 demonstrated a 50% growth in robotics proficiency. Production Line Efficiency showed scope for development; Line B showed a 0.7% gain in efficiency, indicating that there is still opportunity for process improvements. Analyzing sensor data highlights the need of ongoing maintenance and monitoring to guarantee optimum machine functioning. Data from quality control indicated that stricter guidelines were required to lower product faults. With implications for increased productivity and quality, this study advances our knowledge of the revolutionary potential of smart manufacturing technologies, including workforce development, technology adoption, and process optimization.
Chapter
This paper looks into three conditions that are present in most discourses on urban liveability, namely geographical inclusion and poverty, carbon neutrality and climate change, and urban transport. We start with poverty and inclusion, which have been considered as the most important factors that shape liveabilty in cities over time, determining what people do for a living, their income level, the distribution of wealth, and well-being. Then, we discuss environmental sustainability and net-zero city districts, which are now at the centre of concern for cities due to risks associated with climate change and carbon emissions. We look into current trends of post-covid mobility and transport, which play also a decisive role in the way cities are structured and operate and affect how people live and organize their activities in cities. We approach these three conditions of urban liveability as a complex system with a high level of interdependency and we search for common solutions to address these challenges comprehensively. Also, we examine how disruptive innovations, introduced by digital technologies and new infrastructures in cities, such as novel means for electric transport, smart grid, and energy optimization systems, sharing platforms, data and analytics, offer new solutions to those long-standing challenges of urban living.
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Junto al desarrollo de las ciudades inteligentes, están emergiendo mecanismos colaborativos de innovación que facilitan la cocreación de valor público. Siendo los ecosistemas de innovación un elemento dinamizador de tales mecanismos, se hace necesario sistematizar las esencias conceptuales de su influencia en el desarrollo actual de las ciudades inteligentes. Este artículo se centra en dicho propósito, para lo cual se realiza una revisión basada en una estrategia de búsqueda en la base de datos de Google Académico para el periodo 2015-2021. La sistematización conceptual sigue una metodología que consta de tres etapas: i) conceptualización, que permite distinguir las definiciones de ciudad inteligente con énfasis en los ecosistemas de innovación; ii) desarrollo, que profundiza en los modelos teóricos que destacan cómo tiene lugar la cocreación de valor público en los entornos urbanos actuales, y iii) aprendizaje, donde se hace hincapié en los hallazgos del estudio para proponer guías para la acción. Como resultado, se presentan regularidades conceptuales que ponen al descubierto la importancia de analizar las ciudades inteligentes desde una perspectiva innovadora, colaborativa y centrada en las personas. El principal aporte de este artículo radica en la obtención de un modelo conceptual general para la cocreación de valor público en ciudades inteligentes, con base en los hallazgos conceptuales obtenidos, de los cuales también se derivan recomendaciones, con el fin de fomentar su exitosa implementación.
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Smart Cities represent the next big frontier for computational science. However, the real-world impacts of this transformation have been considerably slower than other domains of digital innovation. In this work, we study the interplay between the core properties of digital platforms and the urban innovation contexts that aim to promote digital transition as a means to generate value for cities and its citizens. The research methodology is based on a literature review, which aimed to characterise the key limitations preventing smart city initiatives from attaining the same level of fast paced innovation as other areas of computational science, and seek for alternative innovation practices. The results suggest that innovation practices in the context of smart city initiatives seem to be framed by a key trade-off between the idea that only global solutions may be able to capture the full benefits of digital innovation and the idea that each city is unique and must pave its own way towards digital transition. From the analysis of those results, we derive five design principles for new service-based platforms. These principles represent a new direction to address the specificities of smart cities and unleash the real-world impact of digital innovation in smart and sustainable cities.KeywordsSmart CitiesDigital PlatformsDigital Innovation
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Smart cities have gained prominence in theory and practice over the past two decades. While many aspects of smart cities have been explored, there has been a disproportionate focus on physical and technological elements at the expense of social justice and democratic values. Although there have been attempts to advance the ideas of human-centric or people-centric approaches, a comprehensive perspective encompassing social rights, democratic values, and social justice is still missing. To fill this gap, this study introduces the concept of 'societal smart city', discusses its dimensions, and clarifies aspects of social justice as one of the main dimensions of a societal smart city. In addition to theoretical elaborations, we offer a case study of Tehran, the capital city of Iran, which has recently invested significantly in its technological infrastructure. For this purpose, we conducted a questionnaire survey. Results of the Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) indicate that four key factors, namely citizen-centric governance (α: 0.92, loading 15 variables), inclusive services (α: 0.91, loading 11 variables), resilient infrastructure (α: 0.9, loading 8 variables), and information literacy (α: 0.91, loading 6 variables) are the main underlying factors of social justice in Tehran. The study highlights the importance of social justice as a major dimension of the societal smart city and provides new insights for urban planners and policymakers on how to realize a societal smart city that offers benefits beyond physical and technological advances.
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The Front End of Innovation (FEI) is considered a critical point in the innovation process, as the choices made in the FEI will determine which innovation options should be considered for new product development and commercialization. Studies indicate that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used in the FEI and, although the literature suggests that AI may not be ready to fully take on highly creative tasks within the innovation process, it appears much promising as a support for managers and can play a key role in the innovation process. This research seeks to present these potentialities by systematically collecting and analyzing available studies in the literature with the aim to (I) gain a comprehensive understanding of the interconnections between Artificial Intelligence and Front End of Innovation, (II) provide an overview of the current state of the research in this field, and (III) identify important gaps in existing approaches as well as promising research trends. To achieve these goals, a systematic mapping was performed covering articles published in journals from three relevant databases. Initially, 494 primary studies were selected and subjected to a screening and review process, which resulted in the election of 53 articles whose models and solutions for using AI in FEI were classified and summarized. The results of the research point to the increasing use of AI in FEI. The Identification of Opportunities stands out for having the highest concentration of articles with use of AI, followed by areas of Analysis of Opportunities and Generation and Enrichment of Ideas.KeywordsFront End of InnovationArtificial IntelligenceSystematic Literature Mapping
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Modern cities worldwide are undergoing radical changes to foster a clean, sustainable and secure environment, install smart infrastructures, deliver intelligent services to residents, and facilitate access for vulnerable groups. The adoption of new technologies is at the heart of implementing many initiatives to address critical concerns in urban mobility, healthcare, water management, clean energy production and consumption, energy saving, housing, safety, and accessibility. Given the advancements in sensing and communication technologies over the past few decades, exploring the adoption of recent and innovative technologies is critical to addressing these concerns and making cities more innovative, sustainable, and safer. This article provides a broad understanding of the current urban challenges faced by smart cities. It highlights two new technological advances, edge artificial intelligence (edge AI) and Blockchain, and analyzes their transformative potential to make our cities smarter. In addition, it explores the multiple uses of edge AI and Blockchain technologies in the fields of smart mobility and smart energy and reviews relevant research efforts in these two critical areas of modern smart cities. It highlights the various algorithms to handle vehicle detection, counting, speed identification to address the problem of traffic congestion and the different use-cases of Blockchain in terms of trustworthy communications and trading between vehicles and smart energy trading. This review paper is expected to serve as a guideline for future research on adopting edge AI and Blockchain in other smart city domains.
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Este livro, ao longo de três volumes, desenvolve o conceito de um Centro de Eficiência em Sustentabilidade Urbana, produzido em resposta à execução do projeto Brasília Living Labs (BLL): Um Centro de Eficiência Urbana, financiado com recursos do CNPq, oriundos do MCTI, sob os termos de concessão: 400278/2020-0 e 350341/2020-6, via a chamada C,T&I PARA CIDADES INTELIGENTES - ESTUDO PARA IMPLANTAÇÃO DE CENTROS DE TECNOLOGIAS APLICADAS PARA EFICIÊNCIA URBANA - CTA.URB/2020. O projeto produziu seus resultados principais de março de 2020 a fevereiro de 2021. Em decorrência da proposta inicial, de criar um centro para instalação do Distrito Federal, um modelo mais geral foi criado, e aqui apresenta-se na forma de um Livro Branco, cuja intenção é produzir leitura, crítica e experimentação, a fim de possibilitar a gênese de uma rede de centros do tipo CESU, em todo o Brasil. Inicialmente, um Centro de Eficiência em Sustentabilidade Urbana é definido como uma organização que atua em rede com a finalidade específica de empregar abordagens sociotécnicas para promover a mediação entre atores das quatro/cinco hélices da inovação (CARAYANNIS; RAKHMATULLIN, 2014) para validar inovações tecnológicas que impactam positivamente os habitantes de um território, e que aprimoram de forma mensurável os atributos desse território, cidade ou comunidade, de forma sustentável e inteligente (ITU-T, 2019; ISO, 2015), visando alcançar a sua Transformação Digital Sustentável e o Desenvolvimento Urbano Sustentável (MDR, 2020a).
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Untangling Smart Cities: From Utopian Dreams to Innovation Systems for a Technology-Enabled Urban Sustainability helps all key stakeholders understand the complex and often conflicting nature of smart city research, offering valuable insights for designing and implementing strategies to improve the smart city decision-making processes. The book drives the reader to a better theoretical and practical comprehension of smart city development, beginning with a thorough and systematic analysis of the research literature published to date. It addition, it provides an in-depth understanding of the entire smart city knowledge domain, revealing a deeply rooted division in its cognitive-epistemological structure as identified by bibliometric insights. Users will find a book that fills the knowledge gap between theory and practice using case study research and empirical evidence drawn from cities considered leaders in innovative smart city practices. Key features: Provides clarity on smart city concepts and strategies; Presents a systematic literature analysis on the state-of-the-art of smart cities' research using bibliometrics combined with practical applications; Offers a comprehensive and systematic analysis of smart cities research produced during its first three decades; Generates a strong connection between theory and practice by providing the scientific knowledge necessary to approach the complex nature of smart cities; Documents five main development pathways for smart cities development, serving the needs of city managers and policymakers with concrete advice and guidance.
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In the European Union (EU) multiple levels of governance interact in the design of public policies. Multi-level policies require a variety of evidence to define problems appropriately, set the right objectives and create suitable instruments to achieve them. How such a variety of evidence is used in practice, however, remains largely elusive. In 2013, the reformed EU Cohesion Policy brought about a sea change in the way governments must justify their investment priorities to support innovation and economic development. One of many new 'ex-ante conditionalities' sought to improve the design of regional innovation policies by putting strong emphasis on the underlying evidence base of policy strategies. A multitude of data sources had to be combined to meet this novel requirement in 120 regional and national strategy documents. Combining various data sources meaningfully was a necessary first step to engage with stakeholders from relevant business and research communities to jointly develop and decide on priorities for public investments. Stakeholder organisations had the opportunity to contest insights coming from official statistics. But how do governments reconcile insights from socio-economic analyses with differing views from stakeholders? We illustrate how such contestation of evidence has unfolded in the Basque Country. In this region, socio-economic analysis and broader stakeholder consultation rapidly confirmed three investment priorities that had been already quite established. Stakeholders from local governments, universities and other government departments contested this choice as not fully representative of the local potential and societal needs. Through their participation in a multi-stakeholder body advising the government they succeeded in adding four priorities that address local societal issues: sustainable food, urban living, culture and environmental protection. Our findings underline that rational planning using statistics gets governments only so far in meeting pressing societal challenges. Stakeholders contesting and complementing statistical insights make policies more responsive to local needs.
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This paper reports on the findings of the Online-S3 project, funded under the Horizon 2020 Programme (ISSI-4-2015), which tries to address the challenge of strengthening regional smart growth policies by developing an online platform for policy advice. The Online-S3 Platform offers a web-based environment for supporting the design, implementation and assessment of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) aiming to enrich the methodological framework that is being used towards enhancing smart growth policy design processes in EU regions. The paper first provides an overview of the Online-S3 platform, and then, focuses on the applications that could be used to help regional and national authorities during the priority setting phase of a RIS3 strategic planning process. Given that this phase relates to the identification and selection of specific sectors that can be used as flagships to support regional growth, the Online-S3 Platform offers a great tool towards enhancing the effectiveness of the smart growth paradigm.
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This article suggests the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EPD) that underlies Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) is not so much caught in the transition from the Triple to the Quadruple Helix, as rooted in a division within civil society. In particular, rooted in a division within civil society, over public trust in the EDP and around the democratic deficit of RIS3. Over public trust in the EDP and around the democratic deficit of RIS3 as a transgression, which centers attention on the participatory governance of science and technology, which is regressive in nature and whose knowledge economy seeks to overcome such limitations as part of the search for sustainable regional growth that serves civil society.
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Purpose This paper investigates the potential contribution of smart city approaches and tools to sustainable urban development in the environment domain. Recent research has highlighted the need to explore the relation of smart and sustainable cities more systematically, focusing on practical applications that could enable a deeper understanding of the included domains, typologies and design concepts, and this paper aims to address this research gap. At the same time, it tries to identify whether these applications could contribute to the “zero vision” strategy, an extremely ambitious challenge within the field of smart cities. Design/methodology/approach This objective is pursued through an in-depth investigation of available open source and proprietary smart city applications related to environmental sustainability in urban environments. A total of 32 applications were detected through the Intelligent/Smart Cities Open Source (ICOS) community, a meta-repository for smart cities solutions. The applications are analyzed comparatively regarding (i) the environmental issue addressed, (ii) the associated mitigation strategies, (iii) the included innovation mechanism, (iv) the role of information and communication technologies and (v) the overall outcome. Findings The findings suggest that the smart and sustainable city landscape is extremely fragmented both on the policy and the technical levels. There is a host of unexplored opportunities toward smart sustainable development, many of which are still unknown. Similar findings are reached for all categories of environmental challenges in cities. Research limitations pertain to the analysis of a relatively small number of applications. The results can be used to inform policy making toward becoming more proactive and impactful both locally and globally. Given that smart city application market niches are also identified, they are also of special interest to developers, user communities and digital entrepreneurs. Originality/value The value added by this paper is two-fold. At the theoretical level, it offers a neat conceptual bridge between smart and sustainable cities debate. At the practical level, it identifies under-researched and under-exploited fields of smart city applications that could be opportunities to attain the “zero vision” objective.
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Smart specialisation can be considered an entrepreneurial discovery process which makes it possible to identify where regions can benefit from specialising in specific areas of science and technology. The European Commission suggests the development of research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3) should concentrate resources on the most promising areas of comparative advantage, e.g. on clusters, existing sectors and cross-sectoral activities, eco-innovation, high value-added markets or specific research areas. This calls for regions to assess their assets, single out competitive advantages and highlight the cohesive qualities of territories. The RIS3 Key and Self-Assessment Guides both advise regions on how to prepare for smart specialisation, by identifying existing strengths and the potential for future development efforts, spotting remaining gaps and bottlenecks in the innovation system and mobilizing the relevant institutions involved in the entrepreneurial discovery process. The paper sets out the results of the Online S3 project's open consultation on these guides and the 29 RIS3 methods developed to guide this process of entrepreneurial discovery under the post-linear era of research and innovation.
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This paper analyses the ‘big picture’ of the smart city research field by means of a bibliometric analysis of the literature on smart cities produced between 1992 and 2012. The findings show that this new field of scientific inquiry has started to grow significantly only in recent years, mainly thanks to European universities and US companies. Its intellectual structure is complex and lacks cohesion due to the infinite possible combinations among the building blocks and components characterizing the smart city concept. However, despite this complexity, the bibliometric analysis made it possible to identify three structural axes that traverse the literature, capture the main research perspectives, and reveal some key aspects of this new city planning and development paradigm
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This paper reports on the first two decades of research on smart cities by conducting a bibliometric analysis of the literature published between 1992 and 2012. The analysis shows that smart-city research is fragmented and lacks cohesion, and its growth follows two main development paths. The first one is based on the peer-reviewed publications produced by European universities, which support a holistic perspective on smart cities. The second path, instead, stands on the gray literature produced by the American business community and relates to a techno-centric understanding of the subject. Divided along such paths, the future development of this new and promising field of research risks being undermined. For while the bibliometric analysis indicates that smart cities are emerging as a fast-growing topic of scientific enquiry, much of the knowledge that is generated about them is singularly technological in nature. In that sense, lacking the social intelligence, cultural artifacts, and environmental attributes, which are needed for the ICT-related urban innovation that such research champions.
Technical Report
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This report provides an overview of the use of various analytical methods in the design of regional smart specialisation strategies (RIS3). It then sets out and explain the rationale and justification for the selection of 30 methods currently applied in or applicable to RIS3 development. Using this background information tailored online tools will be designed to enable policy-makers to make full use of these methods in all phases of RIS3 process – designing suitable governance mechanisms, analysing the regional context, building a shared vision, setting priorities, undertaking implementation, and ensuring monitoring and evaluation. This note elaborates on the key findings from the mapping of methodologies used in a sample of RIS3 strategies and a literature review to support the selection of methodologies. Each of the selected methods is described in more detail in Annex 1. The selection of the RIS3 methods is based on: 1) analysis of the methodologies applied in RIS3 design in 30 European regions; 2) literature review on the (good) practices for the application of various analytical methods in smart specialisation process; and 3) review of wider sources exploring the state-of-art practices in data-driven applications and online tools for knowledge-based policy making.
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This article discusses the idea of city as a platform. The analysis focuses on the forms and implications of citizen involvement in publicly-supported participatory innovation platforms that facilitate urban economic development in the welfare society context. The discussion opens with a review of the smart city discourse, which in the context of economic development policy translates into cities' need to support innovativeness by creating smart environments. Participatory innovation platform is a prime example of such an environment. The empirical section discusses three cases, those of the Finnish cities of Helsinki, Tampere, and Oulu. The analysis shows that platformization in the first half of the 2010s became a strategic focal area supported by national and EU programs. Platforms are used to support both urban revitalization and economic development, of which the former is based on representative and the latter on instrumental modes of participation. Platforms are well integrated with city governments, even though they vary greatly in terms of organizational forms and scopes. Democratic culture, welfarism, and redistributive policy provide contextual support for platformization by strengthening social inclusion, taming the growth machine, and easing the tensions between pro-growth and anti-growth coalitions.
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Rapid and pervasive digitization of innovation processes and outcomes has upended extant theories on innovation management by calling into question fundamental assumptions about the definitional boundaries for innovation, agency for innovation, and the relationship between innovation processes and outcomes. There is a critical need for novel theorizing on digital innovation management that does not rely on such assumptions and draws on the rich and rapidly emerging research on digital technologies. We offer suggestions for such theorizing in the form of four new theorizing logics, or elements, that are likely to be valuable in constructing more accurate explanations of innovation processes and outcomes in an increasingly digital world. These logics can open new avenues for researchers to contribute to this important area. Our suggestions in this paper, coupled with the six research notes included in the special issue on digital innovation management, seek to offer a broader foundation for reinventing innovation management research in a digital world.
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This exploratory study has been carried out to better understand the development process of strategies that allow large European cities to become smart. This aim is achieved through the analysis of the Amsterdam’s smart city strategy. By using case study research with a descriptive approach, the activities undertaken during the implementation of this successful initiative have been mapped and organized in a step-by-step roadmap. This made it possible to obtain a detailed description of the entire development process, useful knowledge to consider for other similar initiatives, and a conceptual framework for future comparative research. All these results will support the construction of a holistic and empirically valid theory able to explain how to build effective smart city strategies in this type of urban area.
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This book concludes a trilogy that began with Intelligent Cities: Innovation, Knowledge Systems and digital spaces (Routledge 2002) and Intelligent Cities and Globalisation of Innovation Networks (Routledge 2008). Together these books examine intelligent cities as environments of innovation and collaborative problem-solving. In this final book, the focus is on planning, strategy and governance of intelligent cities. Divided into three parts, each section elaborates upon complementary aspects of intelligent city strategy and planning. Part I is about the drivers and architectures of the spatial intelligence of cities, while Part II turns to planning processes and discusses top-down and bottom-up planning for intelligent cities. Cities such as Amsterdam, Manchester, Stockholm and Helsinki are examples of cities that have used bottom-up planning through the gradual implementation of successive initiatives for regeneration. On the other hand, Living PlanIT, Neapolis in Cyprus, and Saudi Arabia intelligent cities have started with the top-down approach, setting up urban operating systems and common central platforms. Part III focuses on intelligent city strategies; how cities should manage the drivers of spatial intelligence, create smart environments, mobilise communities, and offer new solutions to address city problems. Main findings of the book are related to a series of models which capture fundamental aspects of intelligent cities making and operation. These models consider structure, function, planning, strategies toward intelligent environments and a model of governance based on mobilisation of communities, knowledge architectures, and innovation cycles.
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During the last decade, there has been an increased interest on cloud computing and especially on the adop-tion of public cloud services. The process of developing cloud-based public services or migrating existing ones to the Cloud is considered to be of particular interest—as it may require the selection of the most suitable applications as well as their transformation to fit in the new cloud environment. This paper aims at presenting the main findings of a migra-tion process regarding Smart City applications to a cloud infrastructure. First, it summarises the methodology along with the main steps followed by the cities of Agueda (Portugal), Thessaloniki (Greece) and Valladolid (Spain) in order to implement this migration process within the framework of the STORM CLOUDS project. Furthermore, it illustrates some crucial results regarding monitoring and validation aspects during the empirical application that was conducted via these pilots. These findings should be received as a helpful experience for future efforts designed by cities or other organisations that are willing to move their applications to the Cloud.
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Over the last decade, there has been an increasing focus on service across socioeconomic sectors coupled with transformational developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs). Together these developments are engendering dramatic new opportunities for service innovation, the study of which is both timely and important. Fully understanding these opportunities challenges us to question conventional approaches that construe service as a distinctive form of socioeconomic exchange (i.e., as services) and to reconsider what service means and thus how service innovation may develop. The aim of this special issue, therefore, is to bring together some of the latest scholarship from the Marketing and Information Systems disciplines to advance theoretical developments on service innovation in a digital age.
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Purpose – This Special Issue of the European Journal of Innovation Management sheds new light on the burning issue of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3), both in terms of their policy formulation and their practical implementation in the field. This new policy approach refers to the process of priority setting in national and regional research and innovation strategies in order to build “place-based” competitive advantages and help regions and countries develop an innovation-driven economic transformation agenda. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This is an important topic both in the current debate about a new industrial policy for Europe and as a policy option for a successful crisis exit strategy led by public investments in the real economy. Moreover, smart specialisation is promoted by the European Commission as an ex ante conditionality for all regions in Europe to receive European Structural and Investment Funds in the field of innovation. Thus, it has become a pre-requisite for accessing fresh funds for investing in badly needed innovation-driven productivity growth throughout the European Union (EU). Findings – The six papers in this Special Issue are the fruit of ground-breaking research and policy testing by nearly 20 leading academics and policy makers throughout the EU. They explore the early smart specialisation concept and its further developments, examine the methodological tools at its disposal and advance specific policy proposals and governance considerations based on actual experimentation in the field. Originality/value – All these make the present Special Issue of the European Journal of Innovation Management an important research milestone. This Special Issue is the fruit of a call towards the European academic and research community to help shaping and advancing the smart specialisation concept and thus contribute to better position regions and countries in the global economy through innovation-driven policies.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the factors playing a role in the engagement of end-users to participate in Living Lab field trials. Design/methodology/approach – Multiple case study analysis of three Living Lab cases in which field trials were organized. Findings – Based on academic literature on field trials, user engagement and the technology acceptance model, the authors argue that several factors play a role in the participation of users in field trials. An influential factor that emerged is the functional maturity of the innovation, the extent to which a prototype resembles the functionalities and the processes of the final, go-to-market product at the moment of the field trial. Within this exploratory paper, we propose the “user engagement model for field trials” to explain the factors that play a role in the engagement of end-users in field trials. Research limitations/implications – The methodological limitations of a case study design make it difficult to extrapolate the findings toward a larger sample. Therefore, this paper focuses on making an in-depth analysis rather than making general claims. However, the insights regarding user engagement for participation pave the way for future validation on a larger scale and suggest future research directions. Practical implications – The findings of this paper suggest that Living Lab field trials should carefully take into account the (perceived) functional maturity of the innovation and the specific characteristics of the innovation when engaging end-users for field trials. Interaction and trust between the test-users and the other stakeholders is of great importance for the active engagement of test-users during field trials. Originality/value – This exploratory paper adds to a general understanding of end-user involvement in innovation development processes and suggests guidelines to engage end-users to participate in field trials. In addition, it introduces the concept of functional maturity of innovations and the user-engagement model for field trials.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess how national and regional authorities in south-east Europe in a period of crisis perceive and set in motion research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3) and the options that these strategies offer to overcome the current fiscal and development crisis. Design/methodology/approach – The paper starts with a literature review on the guiding principles of smart specialisation strategies and the differences from previous rounds of regional innovation strategies. Evidence on smart specialisation efforts is provided by cases studies in Greece, Slovenia, and Cyprus, focusing on the elaboration of such strategies in three countries with precarious innovation systems under severe conditions of crisis. The case studies are organised around key aspects of the smart specialisation logic, such as the selection of specialisation priorities, bottom-up governance, private sector leadership, and engines of innovation and competitiveness. Findings – The paper explores the obstacles encountered in running effective RIS strategies under crisis conditions. The paper highlights the main challenges to address, such as the readiness and credibility of public authorities to design and implement sound RIS3 strategies, the willingness of companies to be involved in strategic planning, the availability of private investment funds, innovation and diversification during a crisis, and the drivers of specialisation that could lead to competitiveness and growth. In the conclusions the paper identifies three routes towards smarter productive diversification and five critical stages in the entrepreneurial discovery process. Originality/value – The paper has both practical and theoretical significance. It focuses on the main challenges of smart specialisation and offers guidance in the elaboration of RIS3 in peripheral EU economies. On the other hand, it proposes a model for the entrepreneurial discovery process, based on the assessment of areas and futures of productivity and added-value increase, as productive diversification and crisis exit route.
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Emphasizing the dynamics in economies and industries, Schumpeter points to entrepreneurs carrying out 'new combinations'. His work, and in particular the Theory of Economic Development, is often interpreted as praising individual entrepreneurs setting up new firms to contribute to an industry's innovativeness. This has come to be referred to as the Schumpeter Mark I perspective. Later, however, in his Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Schumpeter has rather suggested that large incumbents are best positioned to contribute to an industry's innovativeness (Schumpeter Mark II). In this discussion, however, the possibly different effects of structural as opposed to dynamic industry competitiveness is often not taken into account. In addition, the contribution of new and small firms to industry innovativeness are often conflated. Using New Product Announcements as a measure of innovation, we find that industries dominated by small firms prove consistently and significantly more innovative than industries where large firms dominate. Taking account of industries' structural and dynamic levels of competition, we find that high existing and increasing levels of new firms entering an industry, exercising what Schumpeter called the 'entrepreneurial function', actually decrease industry innovativeness. We conclude that the contribution of small firms in terms of industry innovativeness is different from that of large as well as new firms, suggesting a Schumpeter Mark III perspective.
Article
The European Commission, through Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, invited Professor Mazzucato to draw up strategic recommendations to maximise the impact of the future EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation through mission-oriented policy. This report is the result of Professor Mazzucato’s reflections based on her research, with inputs through a consultation process with internal and external stakeholders of the European Commission.
Chapter
Cities have been experiencing significant transformations during the last decades, by introducing novel approaches to problem-solving and governance paradigms. The adoption of smart systems and technologies in cities was made through an interdisciplinary process that connects theories, methodologies, and practices from diverse research fields, like informatics and data science, urban planning and development, engineering, economics, knowledge and innovation management. In this context, the ‘smart city’ or ‘intelligent city’ paradigm has been widely used to describe an enhanced model of urban development, where traditional and disruptive elements coexist and interact. Having this in mind, the aim of this chapter is to identify and discuss different layers of intelligence in smart cities. It is based on extensive literature review. We try revealing how different layers of intelligence are activated by awareness, collaboration, and positive externalities and the connections between them. Identifying architectures of intelligence is an essential step towards making the most of smart cities. Also, it is important to investigate whether is feasible to define an overall architecture of intelligence in cities and smart ecosystems, encompassing aspects of human, artificial, and collective and collaborative capabilities.
Chapter
The following text intends to give an introduction into some of the basic ideas which determined the conception of this book. Thus, the first part of this article introduces the terms “City”, “Smart City” and “Cognitive City”. The second part gives an overview of design theories and approaches such as Action Design Research and Ontological Design (a concept in-the-making), in order to deduce from a theoretical point of view some of the principles that needs to be taken into account when designing the Cognitive City. The third part highlights some concrete techniques that can be usefully applied to the problem of citizen communication for Cognitive Cities (namely Metaheuristics, Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic, Computing with Words, Computational Intelligence Classifiers, and Fuzzy-based Ontologies). Finally, we introduce the articles of this book.
Article
Bibliometrics is a powerful tool for analyzing knowledge domains and revealing their cognitive-epistemological structure. Different mathematical models and statistical techniques have been proposed and tested to carry out bibliometric analyses and demonstrate their effectiveness in uncovering how fields of research are intellectually structured. These include two hybrid techniques that allow clusters of related documents obtained from a co-citation analysis to be labeled using textual data. This paper reports on the findings of a bibliometric study in which these hybrid techniques are combined to: (1) build and visualize the network of publications shaping the intellectual structure of the smart city research field by considering the first two decades of literature dealing with this subject; (2) map the clusters of thematically-related publications; and (3) reveal the emerging development paths of smart cities that each thematic cluster represents and the strategic principles they embody. The five development paths which the analysis uncovers and the strategic principles each stands on are then compared by reviewing the most recent literature on smart cities. Overall, this bibliometric study offers a systematic review of the research on smart cities produced since 1992 and helps bridge the division affecting this research area, demonstrating that it is caused by the dichotomous nature of the development paths of smart cities that each thematic cluster relates to and the strategic principles they in turn support
Article
Recent studies reveal a deep-rooted division in research on smart cities, which surfaces as a set of dichotomies that question whether smart city development should be based on a: (1) technology-led or holistic strategy; (2) double or quadruple-helix model of collaboration; (3) top-down or bottom-up approach; (4) mono-dimensional or integrated intervention logic. These dichotomies generate a critical knowledge gap because they suggest divergent hypotheses on what principles need to be considered when implementing strategies for enabling smart city development. This paper starts filling such a gap by reporting on the findings of a multiple case study analysis which is conducted into European best practices. In meeting this aim, four European cities considered to be leaders in the field of smart city development are analyzed to test the validity of the hypotheses emerging from each dichotomy. These cities are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Helsinki and Vienna. The results of this best practice analysis offer a series of critical insights into what strategic principles drive smart city development in Europe and generate scientific knowledge which helps to overcome the dichotomous nature of smart city research
Article
In the theory of urban development, the evolutionary perspective is becoming dominant. Cities are understood as complex systems shaped by bottom-up processes with outcomes that are hard to foresee and plan for. This perspective is strengthened by the current turn towards smart cities and the intensive use of digital technologies to optimize urban ecosystems. This paper extends the evolutionary thinking and emerging dynamics of cities to smart city planning. It is based on recent efforts for a smart city strategy in Thessaloniki that enhances the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of the city. Taking advantage of opportunities offered by the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge, the Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cities, the World Bank, and the EU Horizon 2020 Program, Thessaloniki shaped a strategy for an inclusive economy, resilient infrastructure, participatory governance, and open data. This process, however, does not have the usual features of planning. It reveals the complex dimension of smart city planning as a synthesis of technologies, user engagement, and windows of opportunity, which are fuzzy at the start of the planning process. The evolutionary features of cities, which until now were ascribed to the working of markets, are now shaping the institutional aspects of planning for smart cities.
Article
In this conceptual piece we suggest that the institutional perspective is a prolific lens to study digital innovation and transformation. Digital innovation is about the creation and putting into action of novel products and services; by digital transformation we mean the combined effects of several digital innovations bringing about novel actors (and actor constellations), structures, practices, values, and beliefs that change, threaten, replace or complement existing rules of the game within organizations and fields. We identify three types of novel institutional arrangements critical for digital transformation: digital organizational forms, digital institutional infrastructures, and digital institutional building blocks. From this vantage point, an institutional perspective invites us to examine how these novel arrangements gain social approval (i.e. legitimacy) in the eyes of critical stakeholders and their interplay with existing institutional arrangements. Questioning the disruptive talk associated with digital transformation, we draw on the institutional change literature to illustrate the institutionalization challenges and that existing institutional arrangements are pivotal arbiters in deciding whether and how novel arrangements gain acceptance. We close this essay with discussing the implications of an institutional perspective on digital transformation for policy, practice and research.
Chapter
Processing information in a city is simultaneously a primary task and a pivotal challenge. Urban data are usually expressed in natural language and thus imprecise but can contain relevant information that should be processed to advance the city. Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) can be used to model interconnected and imprecise urban data and are therefore suitable to both address this challenge and to fulfil the primary task. Cognitive cities are based on connectivism, which assumes that knowledge is built through the experiences and perceptions of different people. Hence, the design of a cognitive learning process in a city is crucial. In this article, the current state-of-the-art research in the field of FCMs and FCMs combined with learning algorithms is presented based on an extensive literature review and grounded theory. In total, 59 research papers were gathered and analyzed. The results show that the application of FCMs already facilitates the acquisition and representation of urban data and, thus, helps to make a city smarter. However, using FCMs combined with learning algorithms optimizes this smartness and helps to foster the development of cognitive cities.
Chapter
Regions in the European Union (EU) are called to design and implement Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3), as a prerequisite to receive funding for research and innovation from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). To facilitate and streamline this process, the European Commission (EC) has published a Guide to RIS3 and a handbook for implementing Smart Specialisation, providing a set of methodological steps on how to design a RIS3 strategy. Although these publications provide valuable resources to facilitate RIS3 design and implementation, their inputs are focused mostly on the methodological framework, without pointing out any operational directions that could support an undertaking of the proposed methodological tasks in a streamlined and user-friendly way. The Online-S3 project, funded under the Horizon 2020, tries to address this challenge, by developing an online platform for policy advice. This study explores the information links amongst a set of methodologies, across the six phases of RIS3 design process, highlighting underlying relationships in a logical manner, based on the information flows that are detected. The results reveal parts of the overall mechanism for RIS3 policy making processes, providing guidance to regional authorities and encouraging them to use additional methods throughout their RIS3 strategy-design process, that could be managed and delivered through online platforms and applications. This prepares the grounds for future, empirical investigations of this currently under-researched topic, which appears to be crucial for policy-makers.
Chapter
This paper organizes Schumpeter’s core books in three groups: the programmatic duology, the evolutionary economic duology, and the socioeconomic synthesis. By analysing these groups and their interconnections from the viewpoint of modern evolutionary economics, the paper summarises resolved problems and points at remaining challenges. Its analyses are based on distinctions between microevolution and macroevolution, between economic evolution and socioeconomic coevolution, and between Schumpeter’s three major evolutionary models (called Mark I, Mark II and Mark SC).
Article
Digital platforms are not just software‐based media, they are governing systems that control, interact, and accumulate. They also solidify markets; that is, social networks of exchange that do not necessarily leave data traces, into infrastructure, that is, material arrangements of traceable activity. This article examines the forms of domination found in this digital platform model, and corrects some existing simplistic theoretical conclusions about digital platforms. It first provides a schematic overview of digital infrastructures of governance, and the attendant systemic mechanics they engender. It then argues that we need a more syncretic, interdisciplinary approach to the platform‐based economy. The shifting emphases of different academic disciplines in relation to digital platforms are only partially grounded in their different normative biases; they can also be attributed to use of different disciplinary lenses. The field of information systems management and design studies is chiefly concerned with direct, technical interplatform affordances and connections, and with providing observations of certain systemic attributes of digital platforms. Critical political economy, by contrast, mainly considers the emerging transnational, geopolitical formations of platform capitalism. The interplay between these different systemic mechanics is summarized and presented here in the concept of “platform logic.”
Conference Paper
This keynote presentation explores the role of Ambient Intelligence in current technical and social contexts related to smart cities. Having identified some undesirable tendencies, conclusions and design recommendations are provided on how to remedy the situation. This includes the need for redefining the ‘smart everything’ paradigm, in order to reconcile humans and technology.
Article
Cloud-based design manufacturing (CBDM) refers to a service-oriented networked product development model in which service consumers are enabled to configure, select, and utilize customized product realization resources and services ranging from computer-aided engineering software to reconfigurable manufacturing systems. An ongoing debate on CBDM in the research community revolves around several aspects such as definitions, key characteristics, computing architectures, communication and collaboration processes, crowdsourcing processes, information and communication infrastructure, programming models, data storage, and new business models pertaining to CBDM. One question, in particular, has often been raised: Is cloud-based design and manufacturing actually a new paradigm, or is it just “old wine in new bottles”? To answer this question, we discuss and compare the existing definitions for CBDM, identify the essential characteristics of CBDM, define a systematic requirements checklist that an idealized CBDM system should satisfy, and compare CBDM to other relevant but more traditional collaborative design and distributed manufacturing systems such as web- and agent-based design and manufacturing systems. To justify the conclusion that CBDM can be considered as a new paradigm that is anticipated to drive digital manufacturing and design innovation, we present the development of a smart delivery drone as an idealized CBDM example scenario and propose a corresponding CBDM system architecture that incorporates CBDM-based design processes, integrated manufacturing services, information and supply chain management in a holistic sense.
Article
This article introduces the special issue on the increasing role of cities as a driver for (open) innovation and entrepreneurship. It frames the innovation space being cultivated by proactive cities. Drawing on the diverse papers selected in this special issue, this introduction explores a series of tensions that are emerging as innovators and entrepreneurs seek to engage with local governments and citizens in an effort to improve the quality of life and promote local economic growth.
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A smart specialisation strategy for research and innovation (S3) aims to concentrate public funds and leverage private finance to foster territorial economic transformation. Agreeing on strategic priorities is only the first step in a policy cycle and we explore how S3 are translated into programmes notably in terms of the types of instruments applied. We assess whether the entrepreneurial discovery process is extended beyond priority setting and into implementation. We examine the cases of Finland, Scotland, Poland and Greece and how existing policy frameworks and governance arrangements were adapted to the S3 concept. We find that there are promising EDP processes in all four countries but that implementation has proven more difficult. The two advanced countries have experimented with multi-actor-multi-instrument ‘open innovation platforms’. In contrast, the EU Structural Fund programming procedures have hindered an alignment between S3 vertical priorities and horizontal instruments in Greece and Poland.