Effect of factors influencing AI (Artificial Intelligence) capabilities in the Dutch municipality.

Recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has played an increasingly significant role in organizations within both the public and private sectors. Municipalities and other public sector organizations face pressure to improve the quality of various AI technologies and enhance their efficiency. Therefore, studying the efficiency and quality of AI-systems has become increasingly important. Research on the utilization of AI in public organizations remains limited, particularly concerning municipalities. Existing studies on AI often focus on the technical challenges of AI-systems and providing less insight into the organizational deployment of AI within public organizations, specifically municipalities in the Netherlands. To address this research gap, this thesis explains the factors crucial for the Municipality of Amsterdam to develop AI capabilities within their organizations. To answer the primary research question, this thesis employs the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. Through surveys, technology managers from the Municipality of Amsterdam were asked about the factors influencing the development of AI capabilities. The TOE framework examines three distinct contexts: the technological context, organizational context, and environmental context. In the technological context, the study considers perceived benefits. In the organizational context, it examines perceived financial costs and organizational innovativeness. In the environmental context, the study includes perceived government pressure, perceived citizen pressure, government incentives, and regulatory support. The research findings indicate a strong effect of regulatory support on AI capabilities. Additionally, there is a weaker yet significant effect of perceived benefits and perceived financial cost. However, no significant influence was found for organizational innovativeness, perceived government pressure, perceived citizen pressure, and government incentives.