Acceptance of Blockchain in Smart City Governance from the User Perspective
Emre Erturk, Dobrila Lopez, Weiyang Yu · 2021
A Smart City IT infrastructure can greatly benefit the local businesses and health care providers. The objective of this study is to study the factors impacting users’ acceptance of blockchain technology in smart city governance. This study selects an existing conceptual model as the base of the research and develops hypotheses based on a systematic literature review. This study then proposes a new conceptual model based on the originally selected model and the outcomes from the literature review. A structured questionnaire is designed for the purpose of validating the conceptual model through statistical analysis methods. The questionnaire can be administered alongside a simulation to better engage the participants. The study has identified a total of 16 factors that have potential impacts on user’s acceptance of blockchain technology in smart city government: citizen engagement, social influence, compatibility, perceived ease of use, facilitating conditions, innovativeness, cost reduction, self-efficacy, reliability, perceived trust, perceived usefulness, service quality, energy saving, perceived privacy, human resource, and perceived security. Organizations need to also evaluate their public credit before introducing blockchain-based systems in smart cities, as users may not easily adopt due to a lack of trust. This is where Explainable Artificial Intelligence can play an important role in increasing adoption. If the workings of smart city blockchain applications can be understood and agreed to by the public, then these will better win their trust.