Renukappa, S; Suresh, S; Abdalla, W; Shetty, N; Yabbati, N and Hiremath, R (2024) Evaluation of smart village strategies and challenges. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 13(6), pp. 1386-1407. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose: Rural communities around the world are searching for solutions to upkeep, restore and improve local services that are deteriorating. They are exploring the potential of a digital transition along with the opportunities and threats created by new patterns of mobility and closer links with urban areas. The expansion of information and communication technologies (ICT)-enhanced applications enables rural communities to improve their quality of life. The concept of smart village is primarily about how rural communities make the best use of both ICT and social innovation by responding to the ongoing and emerging challenges. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate strategies for adoption of smart villages along with the challenges faced. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative research methodology was adopted in this research. A web-based questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data. In total, 110 fully completed and useable questionnaires were received. Statistical analyses were undertaken using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings: The results indicate that lack of budget, lack of clear strategies for development of sustainable "smart villages", lack of collaboration between stakeholders and lack of knowledge related to "smart villages" are the most debated challenges for implementing smart village agenda. Whereas smart energy, smart healthcare, smart transport, smart education and smart water are the top five most important smart village strategies. Research limitations/implications: Despite the novel insights provided by this study, it has some limitations. Given that the research reported in this paper is based on literature review and small-scale survey, results presented are only tentative and not generalisable. The findings of this paper are limited to the UK context only. Although generalisability outside of this context may be limited, the authors infer that the results are relevant to other comparable developed countries. Originality/value: Research on smart village development is rare. This paper presents a theoretical basis on the concept of smart villages. It adds to the rich insight that goes into the understanding and awareness of the current smart village strategies along with the key challenges organisations encounter when implementing smart village initiatives. This research has implications towards informing professionals and policymakers on key lessons learnt during the implementation of smart village strategies. Also, this paper contributes to the academic debate on smart village development and provides useful recommendations to both policymakers and practitioners.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | challenges; ICT; rural development; smart villages; strategies; questionnaire survey |
| Index terms: | statistical analysis, social innovation, quantitative research, package, mobility, implementation, social science, survey, quality of life, strategy, literature review, information and communication technology, smart energy, rural development, practitioner, developed country, questionnaire, urban area, methodology, collaboration |
| Subjects: | infrastructure and transport systems, public and environmental health, management, data science, energy systems, data analysis and analytics, computing systems, data collection methods, communities and social development, land use and regional development, development economics, research methods, urban form and morphology, theoretical framing, contractual arrangements, practitioner |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Digital Applications, International Construction, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Health and Safety, Sustainability, Procurement |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here