Information Technology Acceptance in Public Safety in Smart Sustainable Cities: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

The challenges of urbanization require a new approach to manage the cities. Smart cities are a way to improve the citizen’s quality of life through technologies. In this regard, the objective of this work was to identify which factors influence the acceptance of IT in public safety in the context of smart city. For this purpose, the qualitative approach was used, through semi-structured interviews with representatives of the Military Police and the Civil Police in Pato Branco-PR, in order to investigate thoroughly the constructs of the UTAUT model, proposed by Venkatesh et al. (2003). The main system cited by the authorities was the monitoring by cameras, called Safe Look Program. The results show that in the performance expectation, the monitoring system has quality images, which help in the people’s identification. Concerning the effort expectation, the ideal would be the integration with the particular systems. Regarding the social influence, both police use social networks, by directing the sector, to publicize the work and make investigations. In relation to the facilitating conditions, there are difficulties with the functionalities of the monitoring software. With regard to smart cities, there are indications that the services are still in the process of being adjusted and they can be optimized. Furthermore, the participation of the citizen and the municipal administration is important in order to implement more services.