The Contribution of International Students in Smart Cities Through Open Innovation

The concept of the smart city has been an ongoing trend over the past two decades. Smart cities encourage citizen participation through innovative approaches to enhance urban resilience and sustainability. As a distinct aspect of the citizenship of a city, the contribution of international students to the smart city concept has not received enough attention. In this research, a qualitative study was conducted, involving 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews with international students across three different academic levels to investigate how the contribution to smart city innovation of international students can be enhanced. This study delves into the motivations, approaches, and potential barriers to their participation. The findings reveal that their involvement is mainly driven by addressing real-life problems and seeking recognition. An integrated approach through online platforms with in-person interactions could be helpful. However, to include them in the innovation process of smart cities, we must consider the unique difficulties they face.