Citizen empowerment through smart surveillance: evidence from Indian smart cities

What is it about?

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’. Guided by Dynamic Capability theory, we 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. We develop five propositions for citizen empowerment through smart surveillance to summarize our findings. We 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. Our study advances the relevance of Dynamic Capability in public administration. Smart city authorities and policymakers may leverage our insights to design appropriate policies for smart surveillance.

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