Towards a systems thinking based view for the governance of a smart city’s ecosystem

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the role of Smart Technologies and Big Data as relevant dimensions in affecting the emerging social and economic dynamics of society with the aim to trace possible guidelines and pathways for decision makers and researchers interested in the governance of the Smart City’s ecosystem. The increasing attention to the domain of technologies and the amazing scenario that is emerging as a consequence of the influence of Smart Technology and Big Data in everyday life require reflection upon the ways in which the world is changing. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts the interpretative lens provided by the systems thinking to investigate the challenging domain of the Smart City. A qualitative and interpretative approach is adopted to reflect upon the role of technologies in everyday life. Findings The Smart City ecosystem is defined as a multilevel construct useful for understanding how technical and technological dimensions of the Smart City can be managed not only as supportive instruments but also as key pillars to support, facilitate and ensure an effective cognitive alignment among all the involved actors. Originality/value This paper provides a tangible evidence of the systems thinking contribution in analysing, understanding and managing dimensions and paths of social dynamics. A contribution to previous studies is provided with reference to systems thinking, Big Data and Smart City.