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The research identifies literature on Home-Based Businesses (HBBs) from 2000 to August 2023, focuses on their economic roles, challenges for entrepreneurs and success strategies, reflecting societal and technological changes. This guides future studies and highlights knowledge gaps.

A systematic literature review of published, peer-reviewed research between the years 2000 and 2023 is performed to examine how research on HBBs has changed over time, areas needing more study and how research has been done.

A total of 58 articles were analyzed and categorized into five distinct themes. Key insights into the evolution, significance and multifaceted aspects of HBBs are presented, revealing the impact and role of these businesses in a modern economic context.

The synthesis of existing literature enhances our understanding of recent studies on HBBs, focusing on challenges, and identifies promising directions for future research.

The purpose of this study is to understand the public value of the government of Kuwait using blockchain technology to develop the capabilities of smart cities.

Research was conducted in Kuwait, where the increased use of blockchain technology has been evidenced in both the private and public sectors. A total of seven IT managers were interviewed to gauge their responses to blockchain and its use in Kuwait ministries.

Blockchain technology offers many benefits for the development of smart cities in Kuwait. This is a statement that received almost mutual agreement amongst all the IT managers interviewed. However, as regards wider acceptance, the majority mentioned that a framework is necessary to better articulate the public value of using blockchain in smart cities in Kuwait.

This paper develops research hypotheses and a framework for articulating the public value of blockchain technology for smart cities in Kuwait.

The emergence of smart cities, metropolises that integrate physical infrastructure, digital technology, and data analytics, and that focus on urban sustainability, have profoundly changed urban development. In the modern digital era, robust infrastructure has become an indispensable catalyst for urban advancement. Kuwait is dedicated to the integration of diverse renewable energy technologies in the development of smart cities that enhance energy security, promote innovation, and contribute to global climate change mitigation efforts. Focusing on smart cities within Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, a review is presented of how successfully they have effectively combined technology, infrastructure, and sustainability to serve as models for new global and regional developments. Insights into what makes a city smart are provided in different settings.

Technology and a gig economy have affected how people are employed, with shorter-term, more flexible, and technologically mediated work arrangements increasingly becoming the norm. The digital platform, which acts both as a marketplace and a “shadow employer,” makes this possible, with workers provided with unprecedented autonomy and flexibility. The authors examine the interplay between the gig economy and the concept of the smart city – an urban environment reliant upon information and communication technologies – and focus on how technological integrations such as blockchain, the collective network of connected devices, and the technology that facilitates communication between devices and the cloud, as well as between the devices themselves (Internet of Things [IoT]), and 5G, bolster opportunities for gig workers to carve out an existence in a perpetually changing landscape. Examples are provided for the global giant Amazon and the regional businesses Talabat and Raha in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Application of real-time tracking, precision-driven management, and decentralized transactions, provides gig workers new opportunities for employment in their evolving digital smart-city environment.

This introductory chapter lays the foundation for a Holistic Smart City framework organized around five pillars namely: Smart City Governance – Strategy – Utilization – Technology – Infrastructure (GSUTI) model. Smart cities governance establishes the overarching structure for effective management, emphasizing data integrity, regulatory resilience, and civic engagement. The strategy pillar integrates vision, mission, and strategic initiatives aligned with sustainable development goals, ensuring resource allocation and innovation resilience. The Utilization Framework encompasses diverse domains like transportation, energy, and healthcare, thus prioritizing initiatives and monitoring impact, enabling technologies that drive smart city innovation, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) (Chui et al., 2018), Internet of Things, blockchain, and cybersecurity to enhance efficiency and service delivery. Infrastructures and capabilities encompass physical and data ecosystems, from buildings and transportation hubs to big data streams and social media content. The chapter sets the context for the scientific discussion, offering practical insights into strategic consultation, performance monitoring, technology management, and data governance. It outlines directions for smart city development in the Gulf Region, including bold visions, megaprojects, national-level initiatives, data-driven services, and AI-driven excellence. This holistic framework provides a roadmap for smart city development, fostering sustainability, innovation, and societal well-being across the Gulf Region and beyond.

Digital transformation is becoming a necessity for all organizations all over the world. The importance of digital transformation is not only applicable to the private sector but also extends to the public sector. Kuwait boasts the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), a pivotal entity entrusted with the mission of spearheading investment promotion across diverse sectors. More importantly, the focus has been recently on investing in digital transformation technologies where their statistics show that 33% of their investment are in emerging technologies. However, the success of KDIPA was not a mere chance or coincidence where it is really attributed to the transformative leadership that it has. It started to invest in projects that develop the talents and skills of Kuwaitis to create sustainable development and bring innovative technologies to the state of Kuwait. This chapter provides an overview of digital transformation and the role of KDIPA and its transformative leadership in attaining the strategic development goals for a new Kuwait Vision of 2035.