The role of digital information services in promoting the smart economy: an exploratory study

The study aimed to reveal the role of digital information services in enhancing the smart economy in light of the trend towards building smart cities, which requires entering a new development phase. Digital solutions are harnessed to provide information services to beneficiaries through the use of smart applications, such as: the Internet of Things, cloud computing, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and other applications that have changed the functions of information institutions in smart cities. The researcher relied on the descriptive approach with its survey method and the content analysis method to monitor the reality of digital information services in information institutions at the foreign and Arab levels and their role in enhancing the smart economy. A set of questions were directed that were included in the review list, as well as the study relied on direct observation, in addition to a survey of Arab and foreign intellectual production on the subject of the study as tools for collecting data.
The study reached a set of results, including the following: Digital information services enhance inclusiveness and reduce the digital gap by providing training programs that develop digital skills among beneficiaries. Information institutions also provide some services that are concerned with the smart economy, such as: providing collaborative spaces, manufacturing spaces, supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs, and valuable market information for companies to help make informed decisions. The study revealed that the level of maturity in Arab information institutions is still in an early stage; This means that the current reality needs more work on the axes related to building smart cities, which are: (smart technology - smart services - smart governance - smart people), which affect the work of information institutions and activate their role in enhancing the smart economy.
The study concludes with a set of recommendations, the most important of which are: the need for Arab information institutions to quickly adapt to global economic trends that urge the use of digital technology in providing information and knowledge services, and for curricula in Arab library and information science departments to keep pace with the developments of emerging technologies that are concerned with the smart economy; so that graduates can master the digital skills sufficient to benefit from them in meeting the needs of beneficiaries in smart societies.