Stakeholder Support as Critical Success Factor in Adopting Big Data Technologies for Smart Cities

Smart city is a city seeking to address public issues using innovative information and communication technology, including big data technology, supported by various stakeholders. By using big data technology, city management can get various insights, make conclusions about citizens and cities’ infrastructure, and make decisions to improve the quality of life of a city. In context of adopting big data technology for smart cities, stakeholders play an important role. The main goal of this research is to detect which group of stakeholders is crucial for big data technology adoption in cities. The research is based on current literature overview and recommendations for cities regarding stakeholders, with the focus on citizens. In addition, a case study of city of Darmstadt, Germany which is the adopter of big data technology, will be described and analyzed to investigate some of the good practices regarding smart city projects. Based on the Importance-Performance Map Analysis, support from citizens and citizen organization for technology adoption initiatives are recognized as most important. However, their support is perceived very low by city management. Therefore, this paper aims to provide guidelines for city management regarding activities related to citizens as the crucial group of stakeholders for successful implementation of smart city initiatives.