Smart cities and the citizen-driven internet of things: A qualitative inquiry into an emerging smart city

This paper builds on institutional theory to understand the role that the institutional environment plays in emerging economies which encourage citizens to create Internet of Things (IoT)-based interventions. The research included a field-based study in Hyderabad, a south Indian smart city, using a qualitative explorative research methodology. The research found that, although a supportive regulatory environment helps to create a positive regulatory and cognitive institutional context, normative institutions continue to discourage the positive environment that this context has created. Such a scenario may lead to a ‘talent-in and talent-out’ situation that reduces the entrepreneurial potential of the cities. Thus, city governments in emerging economies need to focus on building not only a regulatory environment, but also create a conducive environment for the key stakeholders in the ecosystem to encourage and promote citizen-led IoT interventions that would result in building inclusive smart cities.