Smart and Green Technologies Boost Urban Sustainability When IT Governance Leads

A new study of Palestinian municipalities reports that smart technology integration and green technology development capability both improve environmental sustainability, and that a large share of that effect travels through a single practical channel: using resources more efficiently. The research, published in Discover Sustainability, also finds that IT governance acts as a reinforcing condition, strengthening the link between these technologies and resource efficiency. The study is grounded in Socio-Technical Systems Theory, which treats organizations as combinations of technological and social subsystems that perform best when aligned.

From this perspective, the authors examined smart technology integration and green technology development capability as the technological subsystem, resource efficiency as a mediating mechanism, and IT governance as a factor that moderates how well the technological capabilities translate into efficient resource use. Data came from 324 municipal officers in Palestine, recruited through purposive sampling and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling, a statistical approach suited to testing networks of direct and indirect relationships in survey data. The results showed that both smart technology integration and green technology development capability had significant positive effects on environmental sustainability.

Importantly, the effects were not only direct: both capabilities also improved environmental sustainability indirectly by enhancing resource efficiency, meaning that better use of energy, materials, and other municipal resources appears to be a key pathway connecting new technologies to greener outcomes. IT governance emerged as a significant moderator in both technological pathways. The analysis found that governance significantly strengthened the effects of green technology development capability on resource efficiency and, likewise, the effects of smart technology integration on resource efficiency.

In other words, the same technologies were associated with greater efficiency gains when supported by formal oversight structures. The authors interpret this as a call for governance frameworks that provide strategic oversight while preserving the flexibility needed for efficient resource utilization and continuous technological innovation. The context of the study is one of its main contributions.

By providing empirical evidence from a developing country, the study extends the evidence base on how smart and green technologies perform where budgets and infrastructure are constrained. For municipal policy and administration, the results suggest that maximizing smart technology integration and IT governance together may improve both resource efficiency and environmental sustainability in resource-poor urban areas. The findings offer input for policymakers and municipal managers considering how to deploy smart and green technologies for sustainable development.

Several limitations should be kept in view. As an open access article shared ahead of final production, it is citable but subject to further edits before the Version of Record appears.

Subject of Research: Smart and green technology capabilities, resource efficiency, and IT governance in Palestinian municipal environmental sustainability

Article Title: Smart and green technology capabilities shape environmental sustainability through resource efficiency under IT governance

Article References: Al-Halabi, S. M. A., Shakshak, R. S. M., Mahmood, F., Saleem, M., & Mokbel Alkoliby, I. S. (2026). Smart and green technology capabilities shape environmental sustainability through resource efficiency under IT governance. Discover Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-04668-7

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04668-7

Keywords: smart technology, green technology, environmental sustainability, resource efficiency, IT governance, municipalities, Palestine, PLS-SEM, socio-technical systems, smart cities, developing countries, Smart