Citizens’ Perception and Adoption of Smart Solution ; A Study of Citizens in Smart Cities

Abstract

The smart city topic has gained increased popularity in the last decade, and many cities want to take part in this city transformation through digitalization. The benefits of smart city solutions and applications are considered as a strategic means to cope with multiple global and local challenges such as pollution, energy expenditure and digitalization to name a few. Although these smart solutions are driven by advanced information technologies such as IoT and Big data, the technologies alone are not enough for it to be successful. Smart solutions are highly dependent on user engagement and trust in technology as an enabler for their intention to use. This thesis aims to investigate the research question of “How do citizens’ familiarity and concerns of smart cities affect their trust and adoption of smart solutions?” To answer this, we conducted a research study in Norway. A literature review was conducted to get an understanding of what topics past literature covered on smart cities, this helped to develop constructs and hypotheses. We proceeded with both a quantitative and qualitative research approach. This entailed a survey receiving 102 respondents and conducting 12 semi-structured interviews. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS statistics, SmartPLS and data field notes. Findings were presented by using figures, tables, and texts. Results show that Familiarity, concern, and trust towards smart city technologies influences the us er adoption.