Smart Governance Research Articles

Upgradeable diamond smart contracts in decentralized autonomous organizations

Upgradeable smart contracts allow decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to address bugs, enhance security, and expand functionality post-deployment. The proxy pattern enables smart contract upgradeability but introduces admin-centric governance, where power is concentrated in a single or small number of addresses. This paper explores the potential of decentralized smart contract governance to overcome admin centric governance while achieving flexibility in governing smart contracts. We investigate the Diamond Pattern as a flexible upgradeable contract framework that allows for modular smart contracts. Using the SecureSECO DAO as a case study, we examine how the diamond pattern can be configured for decentralized governance. The used architecture allows DAOs to upgrade smart contracts collectively through community consensus, and the implementation provides proposals, votes, and execution without requiring technical knowledge. The study highlights the benefits of this approach, namely, flexibility in smart contract governance, enhanced modularity, and a single point of interaction for governance. We also discuss limitations and challenges for upgradeable smart contracts such as the decision-making delays and potential vulnerabilities. To encourage adoption of consensus governance, we call for the creation of user-friendly tooling and smart contract facets.

Small smart cities – vision or reality?

Purpose This paper aims to focus on analysing the prerequisites that small cities need to create smart governance, namely, the conditions for establishing smart government, the stakeholder engagement and the tools used in smart governance. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents research results from a questionnaire survey conducted in 2021 among a representative sample of 51 small cities (5,000–49,999 inhabitants) in the Slovak Republic. From an international perspective, they are seen as small cities and cities with a rural feel. The survey’s main objectives are to assess the conditions that must be met in order for smart governance to be developed, as well as to identify stakeholders and provide tools for their engagement. Findings This study shows that the adoption of smart governance in small cities is not greatly affected by the citýs size. Although larger cities may use more smart governance tools, the overall quality of governance remains consistent across cities of different sizes. Moreover, the proximity to a regional capital does not have a significant impact on the implementation of smart governance. This study underscores the need for small cities to focus on internal capabilities, innovative use of existing resources and stakeholder engagement to effectively implement smart governance. Research limitations/implications This paper develops the knowledge on smart governance in small cities, namely, the specifics of smart governance, the stakeholder engagement and the tools used. The research findings may also serve as an inspiration for study conducted elsewhere because the institutional and social environments are comparable in Central and Eastern European nations. Practical implications This study suggests that small cities should prioritise the innovative use of their current resources to implement smart governance. This may involve using strong community networks, focusing on internal capabilities and using low-cost tools. Social implications This paper identifies barriers and formulates recommendations for further development of smart governance in small cities. The research results indicate that even small cities can adopt smart governance practices, despite having fewer resources compared to larger cities. To facilitate this process, political commitment, strategic management support, active community participation and the steady development of the professional, financial and technical infrastructure required to generate smart solutions are all important. Small cities should put more effort into implementing co-creation and co-production techniques to be more creative and effective in allocating resources and responsibilities. Originality/value This paper presents the results of a pilot study and critically compares and discusses them with theoretical assumptions related to the implementation and development of smart governance in small cities.

Implementation of Smart Government Through Digital Village Information System

This service aims to increase the capacity of the village government in implementing smart governance with OpenSID while empowering the community as service users. This service employed the Participatory Action Research (PAR) method. The stages of activities carried out to achieve the goal were socialization of the urgency of SID in realizing Smart Village Governance. The activity was continued with training on the importance of SID for the Muaro Singoan Village Government. The team also provided assistance and training to the Village Government in managing the Village Information System through SID. Finally, socialization was carried out to the Muaro Singoan Village community regarding the understanding of the use of SID in serving the community. The service employed evaluation of attitude, knowledge, mentality, skills, partnership and follow-up that are conducted two weeks after the activity took place. This service resulted in changes in the knowledge, attitudes, mentality and skills of village communities and officials in organizing village governance with digital SID.

Towards maximizing geospatial data usage in north eastern India using open-source scalable user-centric applications

Abstract. The north eastern region of India is characterized by limited physical connectivity and challenging terrain, that requires innovative approaches for effective developmental planning and monitoring using geospatial data and user-centric applications. This paper focuses on leveraging space-based data and applications to address these challenges and enhance decision-making processes in governance. A unified framework for interoperable spatial data sharing has been developed, ensuring that data is easily discoverable, searchable, and consumable through metadata standards and OGC interoperable data services. A dedicated spatial data repository has been established, offering real-time access to over 1400 geospatial datasets and facilitating better decision-making and geo-analytics among diverse user groups. The repository operates on an open-source platform with integrated map viewers and geo-analytics tools, allowing for interactive exploration and visualization of geospatial data. Additionally, 35 user-centric geospatial applications have been operationalized, all developed using open-source geospatial tools and standards. Capacity building programs have been conducted to increase awareness and maximize the utilization of geospatial data services and applications across the region. The platform has boosted utilization of geospatial data services and applications in the region for overall planning and developmental activities for smart governance and societal benefits.

Implementation of Smart Government, Smart Mobility, and Smart Living Policies in Realizing the Quality of Public Services in Yogyakarta City

Major cities around the world believe in the concept of "smart cities" or "intelligent cities". This concept encourages people to participate in city management through a citizen-centered approach. This results in more active and close interaction between citizens and service providers, in this case the local government. This study examines how the Yogyakarta City government can implement e-government to become a Smart City and improve its public services by implementing smart government, smart mobility, and smart living policies. Cities around the world are currently championing this idea as the central government's idea to address various problems in different places. This research uses a descriptive qualitative method by relying on secondary data from digital mass media news which is assisted by data processing using Nvivo 14 as a research tool. Based on the results of the research, it can be found that Smart City in Yogyakarta City shows that (1) Smart Government regarding its online procedures has started to run well; (2) Smart Mobility is superior in traffic monitoring; (3) Smart Living is more prominent in indicators about security. Where with these results, Policy Implementation in the City of Yogyakarta has started to run well, but there must still be improvements, especially in Smart Government, Smart Mobility, and Smart Living so that the quality of public services in the City of Yogyakarta can run even better. Key word: Implementation of smart government, smart mobility, smart living, Yogyakarta CIty

Innovating smart cities in Latin America: Addressing regional urban challenges and opportunities

This study analyzes the role of innovation in the development of smart cities in Latin America. It focuses on how emerging technologies and sustainable strategies are being integrated into urban planning and urban development. In this sense, this study seeks to contribute to the smart city literature by answering the following research questions: (i) To what extent smart city innovative initiatives have been addressed in Latin America? and (ii) To what extent scholars have addressed sustainable innovation strategies in the smart city literature? To this end, this is the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis of smart city research in Latin America, with a structured and systematized review of the available literature. This methodological approach allows cluster visualization and detailed analysis of inter-node relationships using the VOSViewer software. The research comprises 4 stages: (a) search criteria; (b) selection of documents; (c) software and data extraction; and (d) analysis of results and trends. Results indicate that studies on the Latin America region began to develop in 2012, with Brazil as a leader in this field and the tourism sector as the most relevant. Nevertheless, strong international collaboration was identified in co-authoring studies, underscoring a cooperative approach to solving common urban problems. The most active research area is technological innovation and sustainability, with focus on solutions for urban mobility, quality of life and smart governance. Finally, this work underlines the need to continue exploring the integration of technology in urban development, suggesting an agenda to guide future research to evaluate the sustainability and long-term impacts of smart city initiatives in Latin America. From the policy perspective, smart city initiatives need to be human-centered to boost smart solutions adoption and to guarantee long term local impacts.

Recent Regional Development Strategies in Turkey and Smart Cities: The Case of the Southern Aegean Region (TR32)

This article critically examines how the smart cities approach has been employed as a strategic tool in Turkey's recent regional development strategies. The paper explores the efficiency of development strategies prepared for Turkey's South Aegean Region (TR32) with a focus on smart city elements. These strategic elements include transportation, smart governance, energy efficiency, and digital transformation at the sub-regional level. The sub-regional plans prepared by the South Aegean Development Agency (GEKA) serve as a distinctive example of incorporating new technology-based urban and regional practices into regional development plans in Turkey. GEKA's smart city strategies, while addressing best practices, are criticized for a predominant focus on technological solutions, neglecting crucial human elements like sustainability and social inclusion. These strategies risk widening economic and social inequalities between urban and rural areas due to high costs and increased involvement of private sector companies, leading to an uneven distribution of projects. Critics argue that GEKA's plans lack transparency and public participation, prompting a call for a renewed debate on development agency strategies in Turkey. Furthermore, through a renewed emphasis on the integration of human-centric considerations and the cultivation of participatory governance mechanisms, GEKA's smart city strategies have the potential to facilitate sustainable and equitable development within the TR32 Region.

Exploring the Mechanisms Driving Sense of Community in a Smart Society in Wuhan: A Mixed-Methods Multidimensional Comparative Study

In the context of China’s community governance, as a result of the insufficient willingness and ability of residents to participate, most communities have formed a “strong political–weak social” governance structure, which limits the effective expansion of social capital. To address this challenge and promote resident participation, achieving a “strong social and political” transformation in governance structure has become a core issue in current research. Meanwhile, “sense of community” serves as a crucial perspective in this research, which remains to be deepened in domestic studies and needs to consider the impact of emerging factors such as smart technologies. This study innovatively introduces affective events theory (AET), constructing a theoretical model and taking Wuhan as an example. By adopting quantitative and case comparison research methods, the paper delves into the factors influencing Wuhan residents’ sense of community in the context of a smart society and the promoting role of smart governance. On the basis of the findings, this paper presents the following conclusions: (1) Communities should attribute equal importance to the construction of both traditional and smart environments while reinforcing the leading and participatory roles of community administrators; (2) In the community’s daily governance processes, equal focus and importance must be attributed to both service delivery and engagement; (3) Communities must acknowledge the individual distinctions among residents and implement tailored governing strategies accordingly; (4) The government should prioritize the research and development of smart applications while boosting financial investments in the creation and operation of smart communities.

Recent Regional Development Strategies in Turkey and Smart Cities: The Case of the Southern Aegean Region (TR32)

This article critically examines how the smart cities approach has been employed as a strategic tool in Turkey's recent regional development strategies. The paper explores the efficiency of development strategies prepared for Turkey's South Aegean Region (TR32) with a focus on smart city elements. These strategic elements include transportation, smart governance, energy efficiency, and digital transformation at the sub-regional level. The sub-regional plans prepared by the South Aegean Development Agency (GEKA) serve as a distinctive example of incorporating new technology-based urban and regional practices into regional development plans in Turkey. GEKA's smart city strategies, while addressing best practices, are criticized for a predominant focus on technological solutions, neglecting crucial human elements like sustainability and social inclusion. These strategies risk widening economic and social inequalities between urban and rural areas due to high costs and increased involvement of private sector companies, leading to an uneven distribution of projects. Critics argue that GEKA's plans lack transparency and public participation, prompting a call for a renewed debate on development agency strategies in Turkey. Furthermore, through a renewed emphasis on the integration of human-centric considerations and the cultivation of participatory governance mechanisms, GEKA's smart city strategies have the potential to facilitate sustainable and equitable development within the TR32 Region.

Insights from Smart City Initiatives for Urban Sustainability and Contemporary Urbanism

Urbanization growth poses various challenges, such as congestion, pollution, and resource consumption, prompting city planners and governments to adopt smart systems to manage these issues more efficiently. Despite widespread adoption, there is no consensus on the defining attributes of smart cities, particularly regarding their role in urban sustainability and contemporary urbanism. This paper provides a literature review to understand the implications of smart city initiatives for sustainable urban planning, focusing on practices in Singapore, Helsinki, Barcelona, and Medellin. Based on 71 publications surveyed from Scopus and Web of Science, this paper evaluates smart, sustainable initiatives undertaken in these four cities across six smart domains: mobility, governance, environment, people, living, and economy. This review shows that most studies focus on Barcelona and Singapore, particularly in the domains of smart environment and governance. Despite differing urban contexts, the notion of “smart” is closely tied to using information and communication technologies to drive urban operations. This analysis identifies a lack of assessment studies on the benefits of smart cities in terms of urban sustainability and a lack of holistic approaches to address the complex challenges cities face in achieving sustainable development.

Leveraging Social Media and Deep Learning for Sentiment Analysis for Smart Governance: A Case Study of Public Reactions to Educational Reforms in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi government’s educational reforms aim to align the system with market needs and promote economic opportunities. However, a lack of credible data makes assessing public sentiment towards these reforms challenging. This research develops a sentiment analysis application to analyze public emotional reactions to educational reforms in Saudi Arabia using AraBERT, an Arabic language model. We constructed a unique Arabic dataset of 216,858 tweets related to the reforms, with 2000 manually labeled for public sentiment. To establish a robust evaluation framework, we employed random forests, support vector machines, and logistic regression as baseline models alongside AraBERT. We also compared the fine-tuned AraBERT Sentiment Classification model with CAMeLBERT, MARBERT, and LLM (GPT) models. The fine-tuned AraBERT model had an F1 score of 0.89, which was above the baseline models by 5% and demonstrated a 4% improvement compared to other pre-trained transformer models applied to this task. This highlights the advantage of transformer models specifically trained for the target language and domain (Arabic). Arabic-specific sentiment analysis models outperform multilingual models for this task. Overall, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of AraBERT in analyzing Arabic sentiment on social media. This approach has the potential to inform educational reform evaluation in Saudi Arabia and potentially other Arabic-speaking regions.

Engaging stakeholders in cultural tourism Living Labs: A pathway to innovation, sustainability, and resilience

This study explores the motivations and benefits driving stakeholder engagement in Living Labs (LLs) for sustainable cultural tourism, with a focus on a case study in Split, Croatia. LLs, which foster innovation through collaboration between stakeholders, are increasingly recognized as essential for addressing sustainability challenges in tourism. Using a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA/CFA), we identify key motivations for stakeholder participation, including the desire to shift attitudes toward tourism development, enhance educational initiatives, and improve heritage interpretation. The results reveal that stakeholder engagement not only enriches tourism offerings—such as joint marketing efforts and innovative visitor experiences—but also strengthens resilience in heritage destinations. Our findings emphasize the critical role of ambidextrous management, which balances innovation and resource efficiency, in enhancing stakeholder collaboration. The study provides practical recommendations for smart governance and advocates for stakeholder-centric, bottom-up approaches in the design and management of LLs. These insights contribute to both the theoretical framework and practical implementation of sustainable cultural tourism, offering actionable strategies for policymakers and practitioners to foster local ownership and co-creation in heritage tourism development.

Incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in Enhancing Quality of Life in Smart Cities

Rapid urbanization and low residential resources in cities are serious issues that are making city life difficult day by day. The development of smart cities is becoming a need of the present era due to the swift increase in population and environmental issues globally. Smart cities are being introduced in different regions of the world with the incorporation of latest technologies. The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the tools that can be used in smart building and cities. AI technologies are transforming public safety, trash management, healthcare, traffic control, and resource management, making cities more sustainable, effective, and responsive to their citizens' demands. There are still lack of awareness in some areas of the world on the efficacy of smart building and construction that is impacting negatively on the economy and growth of those countries.; such as Pakistan is one of those countries that is facing serious challenges due to increased population, urban migration, and poor management of natural resources. The need of planning smart strategies for smart building is very crucial to manage population and housing issues. Smart buildings and cities provide unique and convenient facilities to its residents so that they can contribute positively towards the economy of country. This paper focuses at important areas where AI has the most effects in order to investigate how integrating AI improves quality of life in smart cities. The aim is to highlight artificial intelligence's contribution to improving urban operations, streamlining resource management, and advancing sustainability. Additionally, potential concerns about privacy, data security, and fair access will be discussed. In order to show how AI-driven innovations like predictive analytics, machine learning, and IoT-enabled systems are changing the urban environment, the study synthesizes existing research and real-world examples. The evaluation also covers how AI promotes smart government, tailored urban services, and citizen involvement. The conclusion emphasizes that although AI has great potential to improve the quality of life in smart cities, implementation of the technology must be done in a balanced way to prioritize inclusive policies and ethical concerns for the general welfare of residents.

The utility of smart government services apps solutions in the post-pandemic era

Purpose The main purpose of this study is to determine the antecedent factors of smart government service apps intention and its impact on actual use by extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) in the Jordanian context. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the main purpose, a quantitative method was used to test collected data, and hypotheses testing through using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and smart partial least squares software. Findings The findings indicate that social media advertising has a positive effect on both social influence and peer influence. Furthermore, it demonstrated a significant effect of social influence on performance expectancy. In addition, there is a direct correlation between the government capacity, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and the intention to use e-government services. Lastly, the results mainly show that the actual use of e-government services is significantly and positively influenced by intention and self-isolation. Next, as expected, self-isolation moderated the relationship between intention to use and actual use of e-government services via the Sanad application, and hence the related hypothesis was supported. Originality/value This study provides practical recommendations for the policy-makers in the Jordanian e-government and Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MoDEE) in Jordan.

Legal mechanisms of public management of financial and economic processes

The article considers the assertion that law and public administration are each an independent system inevitably interconnected in terms of scientific research or in practice. The role and nature of legal mechanisms within the frame of public administration, in particular in management of financial and economic processes, are considered through the lens of public administration transformation from New Public Management to Smart Governance paradigm.

The Implementation of Public Services Through the Curhat Ning Ita Application in Realizing Smart Governance at the Mojokerto City Communication and Information Office

This study aims to analyze the implementation of public services through the Curhat Ning Ita Application in Realizing Smart Governance at the Communication and Information Office of the city of Mojokerto. The study uses qualitative methods with descriptive type. Data collection techniques were interviews with informants, documentation, surveys, and written documents. The results show that the implementation of public services through the Curhat Ning Ita application in realizing smart governance in the Diskominfo of Mojokerto city has been running well. Based on these results, it can be concluded that Diskominfo Mojokerto City has succeeded in realizing Smart Governance through the Curhat Ning Ita public service application. Keywords: service, application, smart, governance

Multipurpose territorial cadastre and collaborative participation as tools for smart urban governance: An analysis considering the pandemic’s effect in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region, Brazil

The society lives in a dynamic, complex and contradictory urban system, seeking to reach a balance between urban development and environmental preservation. For this purpose, there is a need to perform an efficient urban management integrated with the information and communication technologies. From this integration, emerges the smart cities concept, which is composed of smart governance strategies and actions. In this sense, the present article aims to understand and discuss the contributions, potentials and public values of the multipurpose territorial cadastre and the collaborative participation as tools for smart governance. In order to validate the theoretical essay, a case study was performed to analyze urban governance in the São Paulo metropolitan region, Brazil, according to the use of information and geoinformation resources applied to cities’ management, pre- and post-pandemics. The results have shown that some practices of municipal governments have already been established aligned with the dimensions of smart governance. However, mainly, as for spatial activation in the use of geoinformation, as well as in the use of multipurpose territorial cadastre, it still has much to move forward and, therefore, to qualify with public value the strategies and actions of governance that a smart city requires.

State-led smart city with Chinese characteristics: the case of Xiong’an New Area, China

ABSTRACT Smart cities have emerged as either a technical fix to challenges of urbanized accumulation or an adaptable governance strategy under neoliberal, entrepreneurial, and austerity politics worldwide. Utilizing Xiong'an New Area, the most ambitious experimentation in China, as an empirical case, we present a distinct smart city model under the governance framework of state entrepreneurialism. This paper examines the salient and proactive role of the state in the ongoing smartification and digitalization in Xiong’an New Area. We highlight the plural (geo)political agendas parallel to capital accumulation in this state project. Based on in-depth interviews and documentary analysis, we illustrate how the state steered experimental practices through innovating institutional settings and financing strategy, legitimizing ‘digital twin’ experimentation in urban management, and co-opting non-state actors, including technical professional organizations and domestic technology enterprises. Its success rests more on its demonstration effects nationwide than the ‘actually existing’ smart city/urbanism within the territory of Xiong’an. This ‘state-led smart city with Chinese Characteristics’ shows unique features of smart governance shaped by political economic dynamics in China, compared to typical smart city models in Western capitalist countries and Asian developmental countries. The findings further the nuanced understanding of smart initiatives and projects in different contexts and the role of the government through the perspective of entrepreneurialism.

Governance In Smart Cities: Identifying And Analyzing Key Indicators Of Governance Structures

Background: Smart cities are characterized by integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to address urban challenges, involving human and social capital as well as smart governance. Although there is no consensus on their definition, smart cities are generally seen as innovative projects to foster urban development through technology. However, effective governance in these cities poses significant challenges, requiring a multifaceted approach that involves collaboration between public and private sectors and civil society. This study seeks to identify key indicators for constructing effective governance frameworks in smart cities. Materials and Methods: Through a qualitative analysis of 70 articles from the ScienceDirect portal (2020-2024), this study explores the criteria and indicators of governance in smart cities. The articles were reviewed and filtered using a protocol with nine guiding questions, resulting in the extraction of 311 terms, which were then grouped into 33 indicators across five themes. These themes - Governance and Participation, Policies and Regulations, Strategies and Urban Planning, Technology and Innovation, and Indicators and Assessments - form the foundation for effective governance structures in smart cities. Results: The results highlight that governance in smart cities must be dynamic and adaptable, incorporating citizen participation, transparent public policies, open data practices, and efficient use of ICT. The findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how governance structures can foster sustainability, inclusivity, and efficiency in smart urban environments. By synthesizing key governance indicators, this research provides a framework to guide the development of governance models that can support the evolving needs of smart cities. Conclusion: Effective governance in smart cities requires dynamic, adaptable structures that foster collaboration between public and private sectors and civil society. This study provides a framework to promote sustainability, inclusivity, and efficiency in smart urban environments.

A Critical look at the Governance of Universities in the Face of Challenges: Passeism v/s Smart Governance with Data Sciences. Case of Lebanese Universities

The Lebanese private universities must respond to the current and future challenges within the framework of the globalization process. This requires important reforms with a high cost. This article analyzes the modes of governance of these universities, the risks involved and the management tools. A semi-structured interview survey was conducted among large private universities on current practices. It aims to dissects the different elements of governance, as well as the use of data science and key performance indicators in five sections: research, teaching, international relations, budget and financing, and finally student life and its environment. The analysis of the results shows that governance arrangements in universities are played out from two angles: there is a clear divergence between official arrangements and the real play of power. It also highlights fairly similar, if not identical, general structures, but very specific variations in the competencies of the supreme administrative councils, and the pivotal role played by the Presidents of these councils as orchestral conductors. In the second part of the survey, the analysis of the indicators reveals a dual aspect of reliability, on the one hand, but above all under-utilization, or limited utilization, on the other. These results will encourage the use of data science and artificial intelligence in decision making.