IoT and AI for Smart Government: A Research Agenda

The Internet of things (IoT) is the network of objects/things that contain electronics, software, sensors, and actuators, which allows these things to connect, interact, and exchange data. The users, sensors, and networks generate huge amounts of data from which governments can develop applications and gain knowledge using Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques. Thus, IoT and AI can enable the development of valuable services for citizens, businesses, and public agencies, in multiple domains, such as transportation, energy, healthcare, education, and public safety. This guest editorial for the special issue on IoT and AI for Smart Government, identifies the challenges involved in implementing and adopting these technologies in the public sector, and proposes a comprehensive research framework, which includes both IoT and AI elements for smart government transformation. Subsequently, the editorial provides a brief introduction of the six papers in this special issue. Finally, an agenda for future research on IoT and AI for smart government is presented, based on the proposed framework and gaps in existing literature, supported by the papers that were submitted to this special issue. The agenda comprises four directions i.e., conducting domain-specific studies, going beyond adoption studies to examine implementation and evaluation of these technologies, focusing on specific challenges and thus quick wins, and expanding the existing set of research methods and theoretical foundations used.