The role of universities in the knowledge management of smart city projects

Abstract The development of smart cities is becoming more and more based on knowledge management (KM) frameworks. This leads to new managerial challenges, which reflect the complexity of KM governance and processes issues of smart city projects as well as the need to manage knowledge that originates both within and beyond projects' boundaries. However, in-depth research on the development of smart cities from a managerial and KM perspective has remained scant. In detail, although universities are deemed to be responsible for the competitiveness and superiority of knowledge-based ecosystems, like smart city projects, the different roles they play in such projects when dealing with KM governance and processes issues are still understudied. Therefore, by conducting an exploratory case study of 20 smart city projects, this paper aims to scrutinize how universities manage the KM governance issue when internal knowledge is used, the KM governance issue when external knowledge is used, the KM processes issue when internal knowledge is used, and the KM processes issue when external knowledge is used. Results reveal that universities act as knowledge intermediaries, knowledge gatekeepers, knowledge providers, and knowledge evaluators.

[1]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[2]  Mark Deakin,et al.  Smart cities: the state-of-the-art and governance challenge , 2014 .

[3]  Tan Yigitcanlar,et al.  Making space and place for knowledge communities : lessons for Australian practice , 2013 .

[4]  Steven B. Kraines,et al.  Beyond the third mission: Exploring the emerging university function of co-creation for sustainability , 2014 .

[5]  Margarita Angelidou,et al.  Smart city policies: A spatial approach , 2014 .

[6]  M. Angelidou.  Smart cities: A conjuncture of four forces , 2015 .

[7]  Elias G. Carayannis,et al.  The microlevel actions undertaken by owner-managers in improving the sustainability practices of cultural and creative small and medium enterprises: A United Kingdom–Italy comparison , 2017 .

[8]  K. Eisenhardt.  Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[9]  Manlio Del Giudice,et al.  Knowledge creation and exploitation in Italian universities: the role of internal policies for patent activity , 2014, J. Knowl. Manag..

[10]  K. McCormick,et al.  Urban living labs for sustainability and low carbon cities in Europe: towards a research agenda , 2016 .

[11]  Jie Wang,et al.  A decision-support system for smarter city planning and management , 2011, IBM J. Res. Dev..

[12]  Stefano Bresciani,et al.  How to Select the Right Public Partner in Smart City Projects , 2017 .

[13]  Mark Deakin,et al.  From intelligent to smart cities , 2011 .

[14]  Elias G. Carayannis,et al.  The strategic management of technological learning in project/program management: the role of extranets, intranets and intelligent agents in knowledge generation, diffusion, and leveraging , 1998 .

[15]  Stefano Bresciani,et al.  Quadruple Helix and firms’ performance: an empirical verification in Europe , 2016, The Journal of Technology Transfer.

[16]  Cristina Martinez-Fernandez,et al.  Rising knowledge cities: the role of urban knowledge precincts , 2008, J. Knowl. Manag..

[17]  Henry Chesbrough,et al.  Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology , 2003 .

[18]  Gianmario Verona,et al.  Unbundling Dynamic Capabilities: an Exploratory Study of Continuous Product Innovation , 2003 .

[19]  Patrick Cohendet,et al.  Establishing New Codes for Creativity through Haute Cuisine. The Case of Ferran Adrià and elBulli. , 2015 .

[20]  Alan Wiig.  The empty rhetoric of the smart city: from digital inclusion to economic promotion in Philadelphia , 2016 .

[21]  Vito Albino,et al.  Managing knowledge assets for open innovation: a systematic literature review , 2017, J. Knowl. Manag..

[22]  Melih Bulu,et al.  Upgrading a city via technology , 2014 .

[23]  Vicenc Fernandez,et al.  The alignment of University curricula with the building of a Smart City: A case study from Barcelona , 2017 .

[24]  Sotiris Zygiaris.  Smart City Reference Model: Assisting Planners to Conceptualize the Building of Smart City Innovation Ecosystems , 2012, Journal of the Knowledge Economy.

[25]  Jean-Benoit Zimmermann,et al.  Clusters in the Global Knowledge-based Economy: Knowledge Gatekeepers and Temporary Proximity , 2008 .

[26]  Stefano Bresciani,et al.  Ambidextrous work in smart city project alliances: unpacking the role of human resource management systems , 2019 .

[27]  Yuliya Voytenko Palgan,et al.  Urban Living Labs , 2018 .

[28]  D. Vrontis,et al.  The Internet of Things: Building a knowledge management system for open innovation and knowledge management capacity , 2017, Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

[29]  Krassimira Paskaleva,et al.  The smart city: A nexus for open innovation? , 2011 .

[30]  Yonghui Song,et al.  Urban information integration for advanced e-Planning in Europe , 2007, Gov. Inf. Q..

[31]  Elkin Olaguer Pérez Sánchez,et al.  Measurement of potential absorption capacity in Colombia's innovative companies , 2017 .

[32]  Theresa A. Pardo,et al.  Smart city as urban innovation: focusing on management, policy, and context , 2011, ICEGOV '11.

[33]  Margot Weijnen,et al.  Developing robust organizational frameworks for Sino-foreign eco-cities: comparing Sino-Dutch Shenzhen Low Carbon City with other initiatives , 2013 .

[34]  Chennupati K. Ramaiah,et al.  Demographic differences in using knowledge creation tools among faculty members , 2017, J. Knowl. Manag..

[35]  Peter Nijkamp,et al.  An advanced triple-helix network model for smart cities performance , 2011 .

[36]  Athena Vakali,et al.  Urban Planning and Smart Cities: Interrelations and Reciprocities , 2012, Future Internet Assembly.

[37]  R. Dameri,et al.  Smart city intellectual capital: an emerging view of territorial systems innovation management , 2015 .

[38]  Catarina Selada,et al.  Smart Cities and the Quadruple Helix Innovation Systems Conceptual Framework: The Case of Portugal , 2017 .

[39]  A. Thrassou,et al.  Multi-country collaborative innovation in the internationalisation process , 2017 .

[40]  Camille Rosenthal-Sabroux,et al.  Smart and Digital City : A Systematic Literature Review , 2014 .

[41]  Kristel Miller,et al.  A Systematic Literature Review of University Technology Transfer from a Quadruple Helix Perspective: Toward a Research Agenda , 2018 .

[42]  Henry Etzkowi,et al.  The Triple Helix of University - Industry - Government , 2002 .

[43]  Alberto Ferraris,et al.  The cities of the future: Hybrid alliances for open innovation projects , 2018, Futures.

[44]  A. Ferraris,et al.  The management of organizational ambidexterity through alliances in a new context of analysis: Internet of Things (IoT) smart city projects , 2017, Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

[45]  Tan Yigitcanlar,et al.  Knowledge-Based Urban Development: The Local Economic Development Path of Brisbane, Australia , 2008 .

[46]  Davide Consoli,et al.  Knowledge systematisation, reconfiguration and the organisation of firms and industry: The case of design , 2014 .

[47]  A. Tiwana.  Do bridging ties complement strong ties? An empirical examination of alliance ambidexterity , 2008 .

[48]  Tan Yigitcanlar.  Position paper: Benchmarking the performance of global and emerging knowledge cities , 2014, Expert Syst. Appl..

[49]  Soumaya Ben Letaifa.  How to strategize smart cities: Revealing the SMART model ☆ , 2015 .

[50]  M. Deakin,et al.  The Triple-Helix Model of Smart Cities: A Neo-Evolutionary Perspective , 2011 .

[51]  Kevin O'Connor,et al.  The making of knowledge cities: Melbourne's knowledge-based urban development experience , 2008 .

[52]  J. Wacker.  A definition of theory: research guidelines for different theory-building research methods in operations management , 1998 .

[53]  Tan Yigitcanlar,et al.  Dubaization of Istanbul: Insights from the Knowledge-Based Urban Development Journey of an Emerging Local Economy , 2015 .

[54]  Mirko Guaralda,et al.  Public space design of knowledge and innovation spaces: learnings from Kelvin Grove Urban Village, Brisbane , 2015 .

[55]  J. Law,et al.  Complexities: Social Studies of Knowledge Practices , 2002 .

[56]  J. Wareham,et al.  A Smart City Initiative: the Case of Barcelona , 2012, Journal of the Knowledge Economy.

[57]  P. Nijkamp,et al.  Smart Cities in Europe , 2011 .

[58]  Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko,et al.  Smart cities in the new service economy: building platforms for smart services , 2014, AI & SOCIETY.

[59]  R. Hollands.  Will the real smart city please stand up? , 2008, The Routledge Companion to Smart Cities.

[60]  A. Petruzzelli,et al.  Search, recombination, and innovation: : lessons from haute cuisine , 2014 .

[61]  Karl M. Wiig,et al.  Effective societal knowledge management , 2007, J. Knowl. Manag..

[62]  Ganesh D. Bhatt,et al.  Knowledge management in organizations: examining the interaction between technologies, techniques, and people , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[63]  Jung Hoon Lee,et al.  Technological Forecasting & Social Change Towards an effective framework for building smart cities : Lessons from Seoul and San Francisco , 2014 .

[64]  Tan Yigitcanlar,et al.  Making Space and Place for the Knowledge Economy: Knowledge-based Development of Australian Cities , 2010 .

[65]  Aurore Haas,et al.  Crowding at the frontier: boundary spanners, gatekeepers and knowledge brokers , 2015, J. Knowl. Manag..

[66]  A. MacCormack,et al.  Collaboration in Multi-Partner R&D Projects: The Impact of Partnering Scale and Scope , 2015 .

[67]  D. Vrontis,et al.  The Agile Innovation Pendulum: A Strategic Marketing Multicultural Model for Family Businesses , 2018 .

[68]  Willem van Winden,et al.  European Cities in the Knowledge Economy: Towards a Typology , 2007 .

[69]  Stefano Bresciani,et al.  Internet of Things: Applications and challenges in smart cities: a case study of IBM smart city projects , 2016, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[70]  M. Del Giudice,et al.  The ‘Right’ Knowledge and Spin-off Processes: an Empirical Analysis on Knowledge Transfer , 2013 .

[71]  Loet Leydesdorff,et al.  A Triple Helix of University—Industry—Government Relations , 1998, Scientometrics.

[72]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[73]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Concept of “Ba”: Building a Foundation for Knowledge Creation , 1998 .

[74]  I. Nonaka,et al.  SECI, Ba and Leadership: a Unified Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation , 2000 .

[75]  Anil Kumar.  THE INTERNET OF THINGS: BUILDING A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR OPEN INNOVATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CAPACITY , 2020 .

[76]  P. Nijkamp,et al.  Smart cities in the innovation age , 2012 .