Citizen empowerment through smart surveillance: evidence from Indian smart cities

Abstract

Purpose Citizens often perceive surveillance by government authorities as oppressive and, hence, demonstrate reluctance in value co-creation from such services. This study aims to investigate the challenges and benefits of citizen empowerment through technology-driven surveillance or “smart surveillance.” Design/methodology/approach Guided by Dynamic Capability theory, the authors conduct in-depth interviews with officers in-charge of surveillance in smart cities. Given the contemporary advancements, this approach allows a retrospective and real-time understanding of interviewees’ experiences with smart surveillance. Findings The authors develop five propositions for citizen empowerment through smart surveillance to summarize the findings of this study. Research limitations/implications This study advances the relevance of Dynamic Capability in public administration. Practical implications Smart city authorities and policymakers may leverage the insights provided in this study to design appropriate policies for smart surveillance. Originality/value The authors find that factors such as digital technology and infrastructure, information management, skill divide and perceived return on investment may influence citizen empowerment through smart surveillance.

Dynamic Capabilities: Unveiling Key Resources for Environmental Sustainability and Economic Sustainability, and Corporate Social Responsibility towards Sustainable Development Goals

“…According to [120], companies must understand that CSR is not corporate charity but is economically sustainable social responsibility actions that support the environment and the surrounding communities. It is also about taking advantage of dynamic capabilities as a key to managing internal and external resources as a means of achieving the SDGs: joint actions in which society is empowered through smart surveillance, peace, and justice for environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and corporate social responsibility to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG 16 and SDG 17) [121].…”

“…Digital governance for addressing environmental, social, and economic sustainability performance challenges [109] Citizen empowerment through smart surveillance for sustainable development goals [121] Challenges for innovation and sustainable development in Latin America and emerging developing countries and the significance of institutions and human capital [93] Corporate social responsibility…”

Machine learning for sustainable development: leveraging technology for a greener future

“…In sectors such as energy (Lohrmann et al, 2022), transportation (Liu et al, 2021a(Liu et al, , 2021bMa et al, 2022) and agriculture (Krause and Bokinala, 2023;Prioux et al, 2023), ML optimizes processes (Azadi et al, 2023) and promotes sustainable practices (Golafshani et al, 2023). Furthermore, MLpowered technologies facilitate the development of smart cities (De Las Heras et al, 2020) and enhance the quality of life for residents (Cai et al, 2022;Khanna and Khanra, 2023). By harnessing the capabilities of ML, companies may address business problems while generating positive environmental and social outcomes (Dong et al, 2023;Wang et al, 2022aWang et al, , 2022bWang et al, , 2022c).…”

“…Future research can expand the system's capabilities by incorporating additional data sources like social media, surveillance footage and emergency service data. This can improve crime prediction, identify hotspots, and enhance urban safety and security (Khanna and Khanra, 2023). Similarly, Kim et al (2021) propose enhancing their model for civic queries in smart cities by addressing complex semantic relationships.…”