Digital transformation with enterprise architecture for smarter cities: a qualitative research approach

Purpose Smart city services are supported by information and communication technologies (ICT) referred to as digital technologies which increasingly promise huge opportunities for growth but are faced with system alignment and data integration issues when providing digital services. Therefore, this study aims to use enterprise architecture (EA) in digital transformation of cities by developing an architecture to address system alignment and data integration in digital transformation of cities. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative method is applied to evaluate the presented architecture based on electric-mobility (e-mobility) scenario, and data was collected using case study via interviews from a municipality in Norway to validate the applicability of EA for digital transformation of city services. Findings Findings from the interviews were represented in ArchiMate language to model the digital transformation of e-mobility in smart cities. Findings suggest that the architecture serves as a guide to recommend urban administrators of the potential of EA and digital transformation in addressing system alignment and data integration issues in smart cities. Research limitations/implications Data used in this study is from a single case, hence there is a need to evaluate the application of EA for digital transformation of city services with data collected from multi-cases. Practical implications This study adopts enterprise architecture approach to support city transformation as it has been widely applied by institutions to align business and ICT components. Social implications This study provides implication on how municipalities can use EA and digital transformations towards a sustainable smart city. Originality/value An architecture is presented that can be used as a guide to help urban developers and designers in deploying sustainable transport policies for smart cities. Additionally, EA is used to foster digitalization towards achieving system alignment and data integration in cities to support urban environment as they digitally transform services provided to citizens.