“Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model” as a Predictor for the Use Intention of Data Standards in Smart Cities

Taking the region of Flanders in Belgium as a case study, this article reflects on how smart cities initiated a grassroots initiative on data interoperability. We observe that cities are struggling due to the fragmentation of data and services across different governmental levels. This may cause frustrations in the everyday life of citizens as they expect a coherent user experience. Our research question considers the relationship between individual characteristics of decision makers and their intention to use data standards. We identified criteria for implementing data standards in the public sector by analysing the factors that affect the adoption of data governance, based on the Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model (TRAM), by conducting an online survey (n = 205). Results indicate that respondents who score high on innovativeness have a higher intention to use data standards. However, we conclude that personality characteristics as described in the TRAM-model are not significant predictors of the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of data standards. Therefore, we suggest exploring the effects of network governance and organisational impediments to speed-up the adoption of open standards and raise interoperability in complex ecosystems.