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Orchestrating Big Data Analytics Capability for Sustainability: A Study of

Air Pollution Management in China

Dan Zhang, Shan L. Pan, Jiaxin Yu, Wenyuan Liu

PII: S0378-7206(19)30201-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2019.103231
Reference: INFMAN 103231

To appear in: Information & Management

Received Date: 1 March 2019

Revised Date: 25 October 2019
Accepted Date: 3 November 2019

Please cite this article as: Zhang D, Pan SL, Yu J, Liu W, Orchestrating Big Data Analytics
Capability for Sustainability: A Study of Air Pollution Management in China, Information and
amp; Management (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2019.103231

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Orchestrating Big Data Analytics Capability for Sustainability: A Study of Air Pollution
Management in China

Dan Zhanga, Shan L. Panb, Jiaxin Yuc and Wenyuan Liuc*

a
Department of Information Resources Management, Business School, Nankai University,
Tianjin, China;

b
School of Information Systems and Technology Management, UNSW Australia

Business School, Sydney, Australia;

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c
School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, China;

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*Correspondence Email Address:

lwy@ysu.edu.cn -p
*Correspondence Postal Address:
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Wenyuan Liu, School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, No. 438,
Hebei Avenue, Qinhuangdao, China, 066004
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Abstract

Under rapid urbanization, cities are facing many societal challenges that impede
sustainability. Big data analytics (BDA) gives cities unprecedented potential to address these
issues. As BDA is still a new concept, there is limited knowledge on how to apply BDA in a
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sustainability context. Thus, this study investigates a case using BDA for sustainability,
adopting the resource orchestration perspective. A process model is generated, which
provides novel insights into three aspects: data resource orchestration, BDA capability
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development, and big data value creation. This study benefits both researchers and
practitioners by contributing to theoretical developments as well as by providing practical
insights.

Keywords: Big data, big data analytics, sustainability, air pollution, resource orchestration

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Introduction

Many cities have joined the worldwide competition among cities through rapid development,
which plays a significant role in shaping socioeconomic aspects at a global level [1]. As a
result, cities have gained unprecedented economic benefits that they can invest in improving
citizens’ wellbeing and promoting further urban development [2]. However, along with rapid
economic development, cities also face numerous challenges during the development
process, such as resource deficiencies, air pollution, climate change, human health
concerns, crime, traffic congestion, and deteriorating infrastructure [3-5]. These sustainability
challenges run counter to the original objectives of city development [6]. It is extraordinarily
difficult to analyze and address these challenges, as they are complex, involving nonlinear
dynamics as well as multiple domains, interactions and associations, and they are uncertain,

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as their ongoing evolution creates barriers to assessing and forecasting their future state [7].
The traditional path of city development and management is becoming insufficient for

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addressing the challenges and inapplicable to the current context. This not only hinders the
normal operation and sustainable development of cities but also hampers citizens’ quality of
life. Thus, cities are adopting innovative technologies and seeking new forms of
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management to build the needed capabilities to solve the sustainability challenges [3].

Meanwhile, the emergence and development of big data analytics (BDA) provides
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cities with great potential to extract meaningful information and gain valuable insights from
the oceans of data collected through diverse sources [8, 9]. Governments have started to
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embrace city development initiatives with BDA applications to solve key societal challenges
and improve citizens’ living standards [10]. Acknowledging the potential and opportunity
brought by big data to all of society, the United Nations launched the “Big Data for
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Sustainable Development” initiative in 2017 to achieve the sustainable development goals

(SDGs) [11]. The SDGs highlight the promising contribution of big data science and BDA to
many aspects of sustainable development, including those related to climate, environmental
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degradation, poverty, inequality, prosperity, peace, and justice [12]. Accordingly, an

increasing number of studies have noted the positive role played by BDA in addressing cities’
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sustainability challenges [8, 13, 14].

Nevertheless, as both the big data technique itself and the application of BDA in a
sustainability setting remain in their infancy [8, 15], there are still significant obstacles to
utilizing BDA to promote cities’ sustainable development. For instance, data are collected
from various sources with different features and formats, which causes data isolation and
increases the complexities of data fusion [16, 17]. Meanwhile, there is a lack of data
infrastructure, skilled personnel and other resources to support further data processing and

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analysis and achieve the specified goals, particularly sustainability goals [18, 19]. Data
security concerns and privacy issues also hinder data disclosure to the public and data
sharing within the public sector [20, 21]. Finally, some argue that the value of big data
cannot be unearthed by the simple action of acquiring data [22, 23].

A 2016 Gartner survey revealed that many big data projects show disappointing
results, and more than half probably fail to create value and are likely to be abandoned in the
near future [24]. Similarly, researchers have argued that most big data investments fail to
pay off because the organization either has limited knowledge on how to realize the value of
big data or it lacks managerial support for doing so [25, 26]. Accordingly, it has been
suggested that organizations rethink their big data strategies and shift their focus from the
glamor of big data itself to the capabilities related to creating value from the data [23].

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However, as many organizations are still in the early stage of adopting big data [27], there is
an urgent call for both theoretical support and practical guidelines on using BDA in various

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contexts, especially for sustainability.

To respond to this call, the goal of the current study is to understand the use of BDA
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for sustainability. The necessity of conducting such a study can be seen in both practice and
theory. Practically, the findings of the study are expected to provide constructive guidelines
for addressing sustainability challenges by successfully utilizing BDA, which will help
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responsible stakeholders make cost-effective investments in and make full use of BDA within
the specific context of sustainability. Theoretically, the current study will contribute to the
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literature on both BDA and sustainability by linking the two fields and exploring the inner
mechanism of using BDA for sustainability.

To achieve the research goal, we introduce the resource orchestration perspective,

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which is derived from the resource-based view (RBV) [28]. Adopting this perspective, we
focus on how the government can effectively orchestrate big data-specific resources to
develop BDA capability for sustainability. The adoption of this theoretic lens is based on both
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practical and theoretical considerations. Practically, BDA capability is essential in unearthing

data value, which determines the success of big data projects [29]. In this regard, big data,
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as the central resource, need to be effectively collected, integrated, coordinated, and

leveraged to develop BDA capability. As the resource orchestration perspective is consistent
with the trend toward highlighting these resource-focused actions, it is suitable for this study,
which aims to provide some practical guidelines. Theoretically, by highlighting the dynamic
utilization of resources, the resource orchestration perspective was developed to make up
for the flaws of the statics in RBV [28]. This perspective allows the current study to offer

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insights into the dynamic orchestration of big data resources as well as to examine the
process of BDA capability development.

For the current research, we conduct a case study of air pollution management in the
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region in China. The BTH region, as the home to eight of
China’s 10 smoggiest cities, is considered by the Chinese government to be the key area in
the “War Against Pollution” in China [30]. Air pollution has become an international problem
and has several negative impacts on human health [31, 32]. In China, air pollution accounts
for an estimated 1.1 million deaths per year, while the annual costs of death, suffering, and
decreased food production due to air pollution are approximately US $38 billion [33]. As one
of the greatest sustainability challenges, air pollution management has attracted much
attention from the government and the public. The BTH region, covering 216,000 square

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kilometers and containing 110 million people, is one of the most polluted areas in both China
and the world [5]. The governments in the region have been collecting big data to monitor

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and forecast air quality in real time and are exploring ways to generate novel big data-driven
insights for air pollution management. Accordingly, the current study uses air pollution
management based on BDA as the study artifact to answer the research question:
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“How have big data analytics been used for air pollution management in
China?”
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The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: The next section illustrates the
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related theoretical background. The third section introduces the research design, explaining
the case selection and describing the data collection and the analysis. The fourth section
depicts the case, while the fifth section analyzes the case to identify the process of BDA
capability development for sustainability. Finally, the sixth section discusses both the
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theoretical and practical contributions, and the last section concludes the study.

Theoretical Background
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Big data and big data analytics

The concept of big data emerged in the last decade and is associated with the development
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of new sources of data (e.g., social media, machines, smart phones, and sensors), novel
technologies, and advanced user skills [29, 34]. Big data is considered the latest era in
data’s evolution [35]; big data is defined as datasets whose size makes them beyond the
ability of traditional data-related software tools to collect, store, manage, and analyze [36].
This term is often used to describe “massive, complex, and real-time streaming data that
require more sophisticated management, analytical, and processing techniques to extract
insights” [37, p. 1050]. The features of big data can be summarized as the three Vs: high

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volume (the quantity of data), high velocity (the speed at which data are generated), and
high variability (the different types of data) [38]. De Mauro et al. [39] provided a formal
definition of big data: “Big Data are the Information asset characterized by such a High
Volume, Velocity and Variety to require specific Technology and Analytical Methods for its
transformation into Value” (p. 131).

It has been widely acknowledged that only collecting and storing big data creates
little value [23, 40]. To generate value, big data must be processed and analyzed to provide
results to decision makers and organizational processes [29]. Thus, big data is considered a
resource that has the potential to create actionable and novel insights for both businesses
and society when properly managed, processed, and analyzed [15, 41]. Thus, the key to
creating value from big data is the use of BDA. Generally, BDA refers to “the activities

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involved in the specification, capture, storage, access and analysis of such datasets to make
sense of its content and to exploit its value in decision-making” [42, p. 771]. The potential of

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BDA is considered to be its ability to provide insights, enhance decision making, and
optimize processes [43]. Researchers have stated that traditional data management and
data analysis approaches are unable to manage and analyze big data as the volume,
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velocity, and variety of data increase [44]. Accordingly, a number of techniques, approaches,
and products have emerged that meet the special requirements of BDA applications [37, 45].
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BDA processes contain several big data-based activities, such as acquisition,
extraction, cleaning, annotation, integration, aggregation, representation, visualization,
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modeling, analysis, interpretation and so on [16]. Some research further classifies BDA into
three types based on the technologies and architectures used, including descriptive analytics,
predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics [29]. It has been argued that some types of
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BDA can show better performance on some platforms than on others in terms of achieving
specific objectives [46, 47]. The differences between BDA types are distinguished as follows:
descriptive analytics reveal what has happened; predictive analytics forecast what will
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happen in the future; and prescriptive analytics assists in the process of decision making by
identifying inner mechanisms and optimal solutions [29].
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Some researchers have highlighted the importance of generating BDA capability by

arguing that the overemphasis on investigating the characteristics of big data directs the
focal point away from addressing the essential issue, which is creating BDA capability [37,
48]. BDA capability is highlighted because it allows decisions to be made and supported in
more innovative and scientific ways, which also provides novel challenges and opportunities
to realize the value of big data [43]. By having BDA capability, organizations can gain
unprecedented insights into the investigated subjects and into operations [38]. Mills et al. [43]

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have argued that although success with big data is not guaranteed, an organization with
BDA capability is more likely to gain insights and unearth value from big data. Gupta and
George [37] emphasized that it is imperative for organizations to be aware of big data
resources and then to determine which to use to develop related BDA capabilities. In their
perspective, different from other digital capabilities such as IT capability, the creation of BDA
capability particularly requires big data-specific resources and the corresponding data-based
actions [37]. Thus, while the challenges associated with big data keep emerging, it is urgent
that organizations focus on utilizing big data resources to build organizational BDA capability
for addressing related challenges [25].

Big data analytics for sustainability

Sustainability reflects a concern for the wellbeing of future generations and requires that

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three core elements be harmonized: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental
protection [49]. The increasing urban population and rapid urbanization require a demanding

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imperative for sustainability [50] because cities are not only hotspots of natural resource
consumption and waste generation but also motors for economic growth and the
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development of citizens’ living standards [51]. Rapid urban population growth is placing
unprecedented pressure on city governments and creating new challenges in addressing
emerging problems and maintaining balanced development to meet the needs of multiple
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stakeholders. Consequently, some societal challenges are appearing in the majority of cities
worldwide, including pollution, poverty, discrimination, and crime [52, 53]. To solve these
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sustainability challenges, in 2015, the United Nations set the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, which has been widely adopted by countries. The 2030 Agenda contains 17
SDGs including 169 targets to be achieved by 2030. SDGs aim to “end poverty, protect the
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planet, and ensure prosperity for all” [54, p. 1881]. Figure 1 shows a concise representation
of the 17 SDGs.
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Figure 1. United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals
Source: United Nations [55]

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Providing guidelines for actions to address the SDGs for global sustainability is very
challenging because each development goal includes various concerns and involves
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numerous stakeholders [56]. Thus, it is required that any decision made to address
sustainability issues must be based on strong and sufficient scientific support rather than on
the decision makers’ instincts [57]. In this context, big data is expected to help people
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discover new relationships and mechanisms to make better decisions [16, 29], with great
potential for addressing sustainability problems. It has been suggested that big data
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techniques could assist in the resolution of SDGs [58, 59]. The United Nations has also
launched the “Big Data for Sustainable Development” initiative to utilize big data resources
and BDA approaches for achieving the corresponding SDGs (see Appendix A). Mills et al.
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[43] described the following scenario of a world that is benefiting from big data as it pursues
sustainability:

“Imagine a world with an expanding population but a reduced strain on services and
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infrastructure; dramatically improved health care outcomes with greater efficiency

and less investment; intensified threats to public safety and national borders, but
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greater levels of security; more frequent and intense weather events, but greater
accuracy in prediction and management. Imagine a world with more cars, but less
congestion; more insurance claims but less fraud; fewer natural resources, but more
abundant and less expensive energy. The impact of big data has the potential to be
as profound as the development of the Internet itself.”

Acknowledging the potential of BDA to address sustainable development issues,

some researchers have started to develop BDA tools, algorithms, models, and systems that

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are expected to assist in the relevant problem solution process [e.g., 60, 61, 62].
Nevertheless, as BDA is still a novel concept, and its application in the context of
sustainability is even newer, there is limited knowledge on how to effectively and efficiently
use BDA to achieve sustainability goals. Without a relatively clear and sufficient
understanding of this topic, it will also be difficult for stakeholders in the relevant fields of
sustainability to accomplish the SDGs by 2030. Therefore, there is an urgent call for studies
on BDA for sustainability to address the literature gap [57, 63]. Pursuant to the call, this
study seeks to develop a process model for using BDA for sustainability, adopting the
resource orchestration perspective as the theoretical lens, as discussed in the following
subsection.

The resource orchestration perspective as a theoretical lens

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This study adopts the resource orchestration perspective as its theoretical lens. This
perspective is derived from the widely known resource-based theory (RBT) [28]. RBT views

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an organization as a collection of resources and provides a framework for combining these
resources [64]. The ability to combine resources determines the organization’s performance
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and creates its competitive advantages [65]. RBT has been criticized by some researchers
for its static nature [66, 67], and they point out that RBT cannot explain why different
organizations with similar resources show different performance levels [68].
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Considering the dynamic nature of the environment and its influence on resources, a
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dynamic capability perspective was developed to supplement RBT [69, 70]. Dynamic
capability is defined as an organization’s ability to obtain new forms of competitive
advantage by renewing its technological, organizational and managerial resources in
correspondence with the changing environment [71, 72]. Extending the RBT, this
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perspective argues that resource reconfiguration can consequently create related

capabilities within an organization, which are key to the organization improving its
performance and achieving a competitive advantage [68, 73].
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Some studies have also criticized RBT for failing to consider resource management
actions [28, 70]. These argue that it is the actions conducted with the resources, rather than
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the resources alone, that affect organizational performance and create an organizational
competitive advantage [74]. To address this concern, the resource orchestration perspective
was developed by Sirmon et al. [28]; it focuses on investigating how organizations effectively
manage and use resources to achieve competitive advantage and improve organizational
performance [68]. Sirmon et al. [28] developed a framework to describe three major actions
used to orchestrate resources: structuring the portfolio of resources (i.e., acquiring,
accumulating, and divesting), bundling resources to build capabilities (i.e., stabilizing,

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enriching, and pioneering), and leveraging capabilities to create value (i.e., mobilizing,
coordinating, and deploying). The resource orchestration perspective has been adopted by
some studies as a principal view for assessing the relationship between organizational
resources and organizational performance [37]. For example, Chan et al. [68] developed a
process model capturing how resources were utilized for successful implementation of an e-
government system based on a resource orchestration perspective. Wang et al. [75] found
that in a stable environment, the resource-focused action of resource structuring plays a
more significant role in value creation from information technology, while in a dynamic
environment, capability building is relatively more significant.

Given the context of the current study and its focus on using BDA for sustainability,
the resource orchestration perspective is important because the key to making better

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decisions about sustainability lies in understanding what big data resources the government
has and identifying the best way to utilize the specific data resources [37, 48]. Previous

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studies have commonly acknowledged that big data is one of the critical resources
determining organizational performance [27]. However, it has been argued that big data
alone is unlikely to influence performance [25]. To achieve specific purposes, such as
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addressing sustainability issues, an organization needs to orchestrate certain big data
resources to build BDA capabilities [76]. Thus, the resource orchestration perspective seems
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to be a suitable choice as the theoretical lens for the current study.

Meanwhile, in adapting the theoretical lens to the current context, preliminary

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concepts have been identified from the resource orchestration perspective to guide the
further case analysis. These concepts mainly address resource orchestration, capability, and
performance; are derived from previous studies adopting the resource orchestration
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perspective [68, 77, 78]; and are particularly related to big data and BDA, as the current
context focuses on using BDA for sustainability. Specifically, focal capability regarding BDA
and sustainability is generated by diverse data resources and corresponding data-focused
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actions, which consequently influence performance to achieve data value. The entire
process evolves with dynamic data resource orchestration. The identified concepts are
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consistent with the previous literature arguing that the resource orchestration perspective
provides a useful and comprehensive view for understanding processes involving resource
orchestration, capability, and ultimately, performance [28, 68].

Research Design

The case study method is appropriate for the current study for several reasons. First, this
study attempts to answer a “how” question: “How have BDA been used for air pollution
management in China?” The case study method is suitable for addressing such questions

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[79, 80]. Second, the literature review demonstrates that there is limited understanding of
how organizations can build BDA capabilities based on their captured big data to achieve
their specific goals [37]. In this situation, the case study method is particularly effective for
building novel insights into contexts to extend the current understanding of specific topics [81,
82]. Third, to answer the research question, this study mainly focuses on the process of
utilizing BDA for sustainability, and the case study method is particularly suitable for
analyzing such process-focused research [71, 83].

We selected the BDA-based air pollution management project in the BTH region in
China as the case to study. There are several reasons for the case selection. First, air
pollution is by far the single greatest environmental health risk, and it kills an average of 1.1
million people in China each year and costs the Chinese economy approximately US $38

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billion a year in the form of early deaths and lost food production [33]. Thus, air pollution, as
one of the most significant targets for sustainability, is the research context of this study.

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Second, considering air pollution, the BTH region in China is among the most polluted areas
in the world, and control and management are urgently required for sustainability [30]. Thus,
the research result within this artifact is expected to provide practical contributions. Third,
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China’s government has realized the severity of pollution and the risk it poses to the
sustainable development of cities, so it has invested a significant amount of money in
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managing air pollution in this area. To manage the air pollution problems, the researchers
and practicing experts in the related fields agree that it is important to first understand the
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level of pollution at specific locations and where the pollution is most concentrated [84]. Big
data is thus expected to provide an innovative way to address the related issues, which ties
in with the research focus of this study, which is BDA. Accordingly, this case study provides
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both theoretical and practical contributions to specific air pollution issues and the
sustainability context.

Data collection
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The air pollution management project in the BTH region aimed to gradually implement
information systems based on big data and BDA in relevant cities to manage air pollution in
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the region. This project center introduced us to data collection for studying this entire
process, specifically focusing on the use of BDA for air pollution management. Accordingly,
data were collected in two major stages. First, before conducting interviews, we collected
secondary data from a variety of sources, such as newspapers, magazines, books, and the
Internet. We retrieved and reviewed articles and news reports related to the air pollution
situation and the corresponding management strategy and actions taken by the government,
especially those focused on adopting BDA in the BTH region. This first step enabled us to

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understand the phenomenon of utilizing BDA for sustainability (i.e., air pollution management)
by providing rich background information on the case, such as in regard to existing relevant
problems, the adopted technologies and information systems related to big data and BDA,
actions taken, and achievements made.

Second, we collected interview data via either face-to-face interviews on site in the
Hebei Province or through telephone interviews as a supplement. The informants included
government officers from the relevant governmental departments (i.e., Hebei Department of
Environmental Protection and the Environmental Emergency and Heavy Pollution
Forewarning Center in Qinhuangdao city in Hebei), staff members from IT companies that
were collaborating with the government on air pollution management (i.e., YSUSoft and
LeadingSoft), and researchers from the IT Research Institution in Yanshan University, which

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was also collaborating with the government on air pollution management. In total, twenty in-
depth interviews were conducted (refer to Appendix B for the list of interviewees), with

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questions focused on the detailed process of using BDA for air pollution management in the
BTH region from different stakeholders’ perspectives (refer to Appendix C for the list of key
interview questions). Each interview was voice recorded and transcribed. During the
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interviews, we also took field notes, photographs, and short videos when the governmental
staff members showed us how to use the air pollution management system. The transcripts,
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field notes, photographs, videos, and collected secondary data enabled the triangulation of
data for analyzing, supporting and substantiating the findings derived from the data analysis
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[85].

Data analysis

The data analysis for this study was conducted in conjunction with the data collection
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process to utilize flexibility, which is one of the advantages of adopting the case study
method [86]. An interpretive approach was used to analyze the data under the theoretical
lens of the resource orchestration perspective [87]. To simplify the investigation of the
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complex process of air pollution management based on BDA, the process was divided into
three phases, each with a different objective: establishing air quality monitoring sites,
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adopting air pollution management systems, and identifying air pollutant dispersion
pathways.

The interview data were coded with both open and axial coding approaches [87]. For
open coding, we read through the data multiple times to create and refine the codes for the
chunks of data with related information. For axial coding, we related the open codes to each
other based on a combination of inductive and deductive thinking.

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 There were three rounds of data analysis to ensure that the collected data were well
analyzed and to create insights [88]. In round 1, based on the preliminary concepts identified
by adapting the resource orchestration perspective to the current context (i.e., data
resources, data-focused actions, focal capability, and data value), we investigated both the
transcribed interviews and the collected secondary data to code those data chunks
corresponding with information related to these concepts in the three phases of air pollution
management. To ensure the consistency of the coding process, we met several times to
collectively review the 1st order initial codes emerging in this round [79]. In round 2, we
merged the 1st order initial codes into 2nd order themes based on the theoretical lens and
further refined the themes [87]. Through this process, the preliminary concepts were
accordingly specified, validated, and revised and their features were ultimately generated. In

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round 3, we connected the identified and modified themes into a process model following a
coherent logic [89], thereby creating a theoretical model based on this study. To validate and
refine the model, we conducted an iterative process, shifting the focus across the data, the

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literature, and the model until theoretical saturation was reached [79].

Case Description -p
Approximately ten years ago, the air pollution problem in China became increasingly serious
and caused worldwide concern. It has been commonly assumed that the major factors
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contributing to air pollution are industrialization, population growth, and socioeconomic
development, which are all associated with urbanization. The BTH region, which is the
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largest urbanized megalopolis region in Northern China, had to face the air pollution
challenge together while collectively developing their economies. As one of the world’s most
air-polluted regions, the “War Against Pollution” launched by the Chinese government is
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intensified in the BTH region.

Phase One: Establishing air quality monitoring sites

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To initiate air pollution management, the governments of the BTH region took advice from
researchers and practicing experts in the field, who argue that it is critical to first capture
more accurate information about the pollution level at a certain location. Doing so is
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expected to allow real-time air pollution monitoring to be provided to the responsible

departments of local governments as well as real-time air pollution broadcasting to the public.
To achieve this goal, in 2010, the governments of the BTH region took the action of
establishing air quality monitoring sites in the main districts in Beijing, Tianjin municipalities
and the main cities in Hebei Province. At that time, there were a total of 24 monitoring sites
allocated to the region, including 9 sites in Hebei, 8 in Beijing, and 7 in Tianjin. These sites
were equipped with multiple sophisticated sensors, which capture the main indicators of air

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pollution (e.g., PM2.5 , PM10 , SO2 ,CO, O3 , NO2 ) in real time. The director of the Hebei
Department of Environmental Protection (HDEP) further explained the motivation for
establishing air quality monitoring sites in the BTH region,

“On one side, with the increasing severity of air pollution in BTH, we gradually
realized that the traditional air pollution monitoring paradigm, which could only
provide coarse-grained, periodical and isolated data on the air pollution situation in
some places, was not suitable for the growing requirements of air pollution
management anymore. On the other side, we found that the development of IoT
technology and affiliated sensor equipment could offer us opportunities to transform
the traditional monitoring paradigm into the more accurate, real-time, and networked
one.”

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Since installing and debugging the original 24 monitoring sites, outstanding
performance on air pollution monitoring and broadcasting has been seen by both the BTH

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governments and the public. The director of HDEP described the effects of the real-time data
reported by the sensors in the sites:
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“Although it is very expensive to build monitoring sites, each of which costs at least
two million yuan, we found it was extremely worthwhile. Before fixing these sites, we
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could just have a general and blurry view of the air pollution situation. The reported
information was always delayed because of a lack of real-time data. This made us
very passive about making responses and further decisions on pollution
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management. Moreover, it also decreased citizens’ satisfaction with local

government from the perspective of information disclosure…
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When we had these monitoring sites, the previous issues were easily addressed.
With the data reported by the sites, we can better understand the air pollution
situation at a certain place in real time. We knew where it was being most polluted at
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the time and what kinds of pollutants caused this situation… The data are important
to assist in developing cost-effective policies and solutions in the future…
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The real-time data also helped us to provide public information on current air quality.
Through simply calculating with the data on different air pollutants, we could update
the real-time air quality index (AQI) in places hourly via the official website to inform
citizens to take corresponding actions when they are outdoors.”

Realizing the importance of air quality monitoring sites and considering the limited
coverage range of each site, the Chinese government then massively increased its
investment in the construction of the monitoring sites in BTH. To date, there are more than

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200 air quality monitoring sites allocated in Hebei, approximately 50 sites in Beijing and 30
sites in Tianjin. Considering the limitation of each site’s coverage range as well as budget
constraints, these sites are arranged either in the main administrative regions or in major
areas that are more likely to experience pollution, as suggested by experts. The BTH region
has formed a routine air quality monitoring network that provides abundant real-time big data
on air pollution. The big data generated in each site in a certain district or city is reported to
the local and the higher-level Department of Environmental Protection. For missing data or
data exceptions due to sensor instrument failure or regional blackouts, statistical methods,
such as cubic spline interpolation, were used to refine the data. The refined data were
accumulated in the pollution-monitoring database to show the real-time data for each major
pollutant and the synthesized AQI to indicate the pollution level in a certain location.

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Phase Two: Adopting an air pollution management system

The construction of air pollution-monitoring sites that started in 2010 to some extent fulfilled

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the requirement of monitoring the air pollution situation and broadcasting it to the public in
real time. Having realized the great potential for big data in air pollution management, the
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Chinese government started to take further action. In September 2013, the State Council of
the Chinese government made an announcement requiring the construction of an air
pollution management system that could provide early warning of heavy air pollution events.
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The announcement stated that major cities in China would be required to construct their own
air pollution management systems and that the evaluation of the systems would be included
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in the annual performance examination of local governments on aspects of environmental

protection.

To meet this requirement, local governments in the BTH region started to supervise
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and urge cities to implement their own air pollution management systems to provide an early
warning of pollution events. Taking the city of Qinhuangdao in Hebei, one of China’s most
famous tourism cities, as an example, to implement such a system, a new department called
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the Emergency and Heavy Pollution Forewarning Center (EEHPFC) was founded by the
local government. The EEHPFC is an independent department in the government that is
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specifically responsible for providing an early warning of heavy pollution events. As this task
requires sophisticated IT knowledge and techniques, the EEHPFC decided to cooperate with
YSUSoft and Leading Soft, two IT companies, for IT support. The director of the EEHPFC
recalled the original requirements for the air pollution management system as discussed with
YSUSoft,

“Through several occasions of preliminary discussion, we finally decided the

requirements on the system to meet our needs for practical utilization and operation:

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 first, the system needs to provide predictive results of air quality in the city for the
next few days; second, the system need to contain the function of early warning of
heavy pollution events in the city; third, the system should be put into use in relatively
short time, approximately six months, to meet the requirement from the upper
government.”

With an overall consideration of the requirements and considering suggestions from

experts in the field of air pollution management, the EEHPFC in cooperation with the IT
companies decided to adopt a mature air pollution management system using the
community multiscale air quality (CMAQ) model as its core. The CMAQ system is a third-
generation air quality modeling system that was designed by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. The source code of the system is highly transparent and is available

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online at http://www.cmaq-model.org. Accordingly, air pollution management systems based
on the CMAQ model have been widely adopted to forecast air quality, based on which the

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government can make corresponding decisions. The project manager from YSUSoft
explained the choice of the CMAQ system:

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“We, together with EEHPFC, only had six months to implement an air pollution
management system, and we had limited financial investment and human resources,
which is unrealistic to develop a new system from zero. Through consultation with the
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experts, we found that the CMAQ system could satisfy all the requirements for
forecasting air quality and forewarning heavy pollution. Furthermore, it has been
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maturely applied, for example, in America, and it is easy to get from the online source.
Thus, our task could be simplified from developing a system to preparing data as
input and adjusting the system.”
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Following the operation manual of the CMAQ system, the EEHPFC needed to gather
all the required data. In addition to real-time air quality data reported by the 15 air quality
monitoring sites in the city of Qinhuangdao, other data, such as meteorological data (e.g., air
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temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and humidity) and pollution source data (e.g., the
pollutant emission inventory of the pollution source), were also needed. To collect these data,
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the EEHPFC coordinated with other departments of the local city government, such as the
Meteorological Bureau and Environmental Protection Department, to receive relevant data in
a timely manner. With the IT support from the cooperating IT companies, the gathered data
were further preprocessed by refining and restructuring them to meet the required input
format. By integrating the data from various sources into the air pollution management
system for processing, the prediction results could be presented as the outputs.

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 Through a short pilot of the system, the EEHPFC found that the predictive accuracy
of the system was less than 60%. Discussing this issue with the IT companies, the EEHPFC
realized that even with the ready-developed system, they still needed to adjust the relevant
parameters of the system. One staff member from EEHPFC explained is as follows:

“After pilot operation, we had to adjust the system by correspondingly changing some
parameters before it could be formally used. This is because different cities may
have different topography, pollutant sources or weather conditions and thus,
corresponding adjustment should be conducted to ensure the accuracy and
effectiveness of system prediction.”

To adjust the system, the EEHPFC first gathered the accumulated big data on air
quality and other corresponding data for previous years because the monitoring sites were

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set as the historical database. With the help of the IT companies, the prediction results
generated by the system based on historical data were continuously compared with the

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actual monitoring data on air quality at a specific time. The relevant parameters were
adjusted iteratively to decrease the differences between the prediction results and the real-
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time monitoring data. Ultimately, the predictive accuracy of the system was increased to up
to 70%, and the system was put into use to predict air quality and provide an early warning
of heavy pollution events. Since the implementation of the system, the EEHPFC has
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continued to adjust parameters at regular intervals to continuously improve the forecast
accuracy.
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Figure 2. User Interface for the Air Pollution Management System
Source: EEHPFC of Qinhuangdao

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The user interface for the air pollution management system is shown in Figure 2,
which presents the prediction results in both a map format to provide an overall view of the

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city in terms of air pollution forecasting and a graph format to show the pollution trends at
specific locations to provide forewarning of heavy pollution. The system provides scientific
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results for forecasting air quality that satisfy the government requirement by providing an
understanding of real-time monitoring results and allowing users to master the development
trend of air quality and air pollution. It also offers key technical and data support for decision
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making to maintain the prevention and control of air pollution, and it provides warning
information and timely suggestions for emergency measures in heavy air pollution.
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Phase Three: Identifying air pollutant dispersion pathways

The establishment of air quality monitoring sites enabled real-time monitoring, while the
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adoption of an air pollution management system allowed air quality prediction and heavy
pollution early warning. Through the process of implementing these tasks, an ocean of
relevant data was accumulated and stored in the database. The collected data already
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fulfilled the original responsibility to either monitor or predict, but the governments of the BTH
region started to consider reusing these data to generate new and actionable insights based
on BDA to further improve air pollution management in the BTH region. In September 2015,
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the HDEP launched a cooperative project with practicing air pollution experts and IS
researchers from Yanshan University to explore valuable insights from BDA to enhance air
pollution management. The main objective of this project is to identify the pathways of air
pollutant dispersion. The director of HDEP described the initiation of this project:

“The idea of using BDA for identifying the pollutant dispersion pathways was derived
from the process when we implemented the province-level air pollution management
system, as required by the upper government. At that time, we realized that the

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 quality of data on air pollution was also very significant for predictive accuracy. As
there is a coverage limitation for the monitoring sites, higher data quality requires a
more representative siting of the air quality monitors, which can cover the majority of
key sites prone to pollution…

Due to the consideration of saving cost and increasing efficiency, we found it was
essential to understand the pollutant dispersion pathways to optimize the regional
monitoring network and forecast air quality more accurately… For united air pollution
management among Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, we also wanted to figure out how
the air pollution of a certain city influences the adjacent cities. The air pollutant
dispersion pathways were expected to help us understand this question, which would
assist us in distinguishing the respective responsibility of the cities and help the

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related cities take measures in advance of coming heavy air pollution.”

To achieve this goal, the HDEP, working together with air pollution management

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experts and IS researchers, first determined the regular law of pollutant dispersion and the
corresponding data involved. In addition to the data that had already been collected as the
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input of the air pollution management system, they found that other data, such as
socioeconomic data (e.g., population density and traffic flow rate) and terrain data, could
also influence pollution dispersion. The HDEP then coordinated with the Statistics Bureau to
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obtain the data. After supplementing the big data pool, the data were cleaned and
preprocessed with the relevant imputation techniques, such as cubic spline interpolation.
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Next, abductive computer reasoning with machine learning was utilized to develop
the data model for this project. Through several discussions between the HDEP, the
practicing experts and the IS researchers, a complex network model was determined for
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data modeling by comparing all the possible models with the existing dispersion law. The
complex network model was considered suitable for modeling pollutant dispersion because it
could clarify patterns of connections between network nodes that are neither purely random
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nor purely regular. As one of the IS researchers on this project at Yanshan University
explained,
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“The complex network model is capable of simulating the interactions among the
components for air pollutant dispersion. In the model, the nodes are mapped as
certain locations and edges represent the flow of air pollutants from original location
to others in a region.”

Complex network theories helped to guide how data were modeled. The data
modeling was an iterative process that adapted complex network theories to pollutant
dispersion through constant comparison of data with data and of data with complex network

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theories to progressively develop a proper data model. Meanwhile, the corresponding
machine learning algorithm was developed by the IS researchers, as detailed in Liu et al.
[90]. By utilizing machine learning, a series of data-driven clustering explorations were
conducted to develop the initial set of pathways, which was then iteratively refined by
constantly adapting the set to fit the data. Finally, the set of pathways of air pollutant
dispersion was created (see Figure 3, for example).

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Figure 3. Pathways of Air Pollutant Dispersion Identified using Machine Learning

Source: Liu et al. [90]

The set of identified dispersion pathways was reported to the governments of the
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BTH region as a foundation for advising the future construction of new air quality monitoring
sites. Furthermore, it helped the governments trace pollution’s origins and distinguish the
responsibility for air pollution management for each city, which could enhance united
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management across the BTH region.

Case Analysis
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The above case description illustrates the process of developing BDA capability for
sustainability in the setting of air pollution management, as shown in Figure 4. The resource
orchestration perspective was adopted as the theoretical lens for case analysis. On the basis
of the case description, the case was analyzed across three phases: setting air quality
monitoring sites (Phase 1), adopting an air pollution management system (Phase 2), and
identifying air pollutant dispersion pathways (Phase 3).

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 In general, the development of BDA capability is the result of big data resource
orchestration, but different BDA capabilities require different orchestration methods. In
addition, BDA capability can be further classified into two different levels, and concrete-level
BDA capability leads to the abstract-level BDA capability. Furthermore, applying BDA in a
specific context (i.e., sustainability) enables the BDA capability to be transformed into the
corresponding contextual capability to achieve sustainable goals. Finally, with the
accumulation of BDA capability, the value of big data is progressively excavated.

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Figure 4. The process model of BDA capability development in air pollution

management
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Developing BDA capability through big data resource orchestration

The case analysis reveals that BDA capability as the focal capability in each phase of the
case was developed by orchestrating the focal resource—big data resource. Unlike the
conventional view of resource orchestration, which considers all the possible focal resources
and all the corresponding capabilities [28], we narrow down the scope of analysis to keep it
specific to big data because the current research focus is on BDA for sustainability. Thus, we

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propose that this orchestration occurs when governments purposefully orchestrate large
data resources, which leads to the generation of corresponding BDA capability. Taking a
longitudinal view across the three phases, we find that to create different BDA capabilities,
different data resources, different data-focused actions, and different data-specific
investments are required. Additionally, the study reveals that there are two different levels of
BDA capability developed based on big data resource orchestration. Concrete BDA
capability is directly associated with data resource-focused actions. In other words, concrete
BDA capability refers to the ability of the activities to orchestrate big data resources. Abstract
BDA capability is derived from a combination of concrete BDA capabilities, which
generalizes the capability created through big data analytics. Furthermore, through this
analysis process, we specifically reveal that different data-specific investments focus on

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different roles for big data in different phases, thereby influencing the development of
different BDA capabilities.

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In Phase 1, the requirement of air pollution management at the primary stage is to
more precisely understand the pollution level. Thus, the focal abstract BDA capability is the
ability to describe the situation of pollution accurately and in a timely manner. To achieve this,
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big data can describe the situation where necessary. Air quality monitoring sites with
advanced sensors and Internet of things (IoT) technology were set in designated locations to
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capture such data. It is notable that for some monitoring sites, missing data or data
exceptions occurred due to sensor instrument failure or regional blackout, which could
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influence the accuracy of big data. As argued by the resource orchestration research,
resource-focused actions realize the value of a resource [28]. Thus, the descriptive capability
was developed through data resource-focused actions, which were collecting the sensor
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data in each site and cleaning the collected data so that it could ultimately show real-time air
quality in a specific location. To conduct such actions, the corresponding concrete BDA
capability, which is the ability to collect data and the ability to clean data, must be developed.
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At this stage, the major data-specific investment is in the data infrastructure, which functions
as the source of the big data.
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In Phase 2, when the governments met the requirement of knowing what is

happening in terms of air pollution, they next wanted to predict what would happen in the
future with the help of BDA. This is a significant development of the focal abstract BDA
capability—predictive capability—which is expected to enable governments to prepare a
relevant response to air pollution in advance. To generate the predictive capability, an
existing air pollution management system was adopted; thus, as the input, the single source
of sensor data was insufficient. To achieve predictive capability, the pool of big data was
enriched by integrating other sources of data, such as meteorological data and pollutant

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source data, with the sensor data. All the data were used as inputs to the air pollution
management system. With the existing adapted system, the governments in cooperation
with IT companies did not need to understand the inner mechanisms for predicting air quality.
Instead, they only needed to process the data with the help of the system. Therefore, at this
stage, the main data resource-focused actions to develop predictive capability are
integrating multiple sources of data and processing the data using an information system.
Accordingly, to undertake these resource-focused actions, the corresponding concrete BDA
capabilities—the ability to integrate data and the ability to process data—were required. In
the stage, which focused on processing the data to generate prediction results, the data
system was the major data-specific investment. This is different from the role of the data
infrastructure investment in Phase 1, which focused on the source of data, and the data

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system investment plays a role as a “black box” machine to process the data.

In Phase 3, the governments wanted to further unearth the value of the already-in-

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use data. They wanted to identify the pathways of pollutant dispersion so that they could
improve the siting of the air quality monitors and make united decisions on air pollution
management. To achieve this prescriptive capability, the existing sources of data were
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orchestrated in a different way so that the “black box” of pollutant dispersion was opened.
Cooperating with both the IS researchers and air pollution management experts, the
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governments tried to determine the dispersion mechanisms, utilizing machine learning with
complex network modeling to identify the pathways of air pollutant dispersion. In this process,
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the multiple data resources were coordinated to identify the law of air pollutant dispersion,
and the data were deployed with machine learning to identify the dispersion pathways, which
finally developed the focal abstract BDA capability—the prescriptive capability. To
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accomplish resource-focused actions, the corresponding concrete BDA capability, which is

the capability of coordinating data and the capability of reusing data, was required.
Additionally, in this stage, the main data-specific investment was to adopt machine learning
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methods, which played a role as a tool to interact with big data to generate data value.

Synthesizing the process of developing BDA capability in the three phases, different
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types of abstract BDA capabilities are identified (i.e., descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive
capabilities) for sustainability. The current study finds that to develop such BDA capabilities,
the focal resources are different types of data resources, such as sensor data,
meteorological data, pollutant source data, and so on in the specific context of air pollution
management. It further reveals that to achieve the goal of developing the three BDA
capabilities, there are two data-focused concerns that need to be well considered: data
quality and activities involved in the data lifecycle.

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 First, regarding the use of BDA for air pollution management, data resources are to
be extracted to describe the air quality, processed through the information system to predict
high pollution levels, and analyzed with machine learning to prescribe solutions for pollution
management. Accordingly, the quality of the data is essential for the entire process of data
orchestration involved in developing BDA capability. Among the diverse dimensions of data
quality [91], the accuracy, timeliness, accessibility, completeness, relevance, and cost-
effectiveness of the data are the central concern, and corresponding investments and efforts
were made in this case to achieve these quality measures. In Phase 1, investments were
made in data infrastructure (i.e., advanced sensors and IoT technology) to obtain data that
could report accurate air quality information in real time. In Phase 2, to input the required
data into the adapted information system, cooperation among governmental departments

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was promoted to ensure that the data were accessible and complete before being imported,
which further influenced the success of the system in delivering the predictive results. In
Phase 3, machine learning was utilized to identify the pathways of pollutant dispersion, and

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thus, the relevance of the data for the dispersion mechanisms was mainly discussed. The
analysis results, in turn, were used to guide the construction of monitoring sites, aiming to
collect more accurate data at a relatively lower cost.
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Second, based on Sirmon et al. [28]’s research on the resource orchestration
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perspective, three major actions were proposed to orchestrate diverse resources (i.e.,
structuring, bundling, leveraging), which have been applied as a theoretical framework to
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analyze the relevant processes [77, 78]. Narrowing down the analysis scope to big data
resource orchestration, the current study proposes that the major actions taken to
orchestrate big data resources for developing BDA capability can involve the entire data
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lifecycle, from data creation to data reuse. For the current context of air pollution
management, the specific data-focused actions in the data lifecycle were identified within
three phases; these are collecting, cleaning, integrating, processing, coordinating, and
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reusing data. In Phase 1, to develop the descriptive BDA capability, sensor data were
collected and cleaned in order to accurately describe real-time air quality. In Phase 2, to
develop the predictive BDA capability, various types of data were integrated and then
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processed through the information system to predict the air pollution level based on the
output results. In Phase 3, to develop the prescriptive BDA capability, multiple data were
coordinated to identify the pollution mechanisms and consequently deployed with machine
learning to further prescribe solutions for air pollution management. This finding links the
literature on the data lifecycle and resource orchestration to provide a framework for data
resource orchestration that identifies the possible data-focused actions through which BDA
capability is correspondingly developed.

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Transforming BDA capability into sustainability capability

The case analysis reveals that by applying BDA in the context of sustainability, there is a
capability transformation chain in each phase. In general, concrete BDA capability, which is
associated with data resource orchestration, can be further transformed into abstract BDA
capability and finally into the situational sustainability capability by being combined with the
specific context. The three different types of capability are also hierarchical in that only when
the development of the former capability is fulfilled can the latter capability be created.

In Phase 1 of establishing the air quality monitoring sites, the concrete BDA
capabilities are collecting data and cleaning data. By setting the monitoring sites and
obtaining the concrete BDA capabilities, the data on pollutant indicators at the sites are
collected and cleaned. With big data on air quality, the government consequently gained

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descriptive capability, which is the abstract BDA capability to describe real-time air quality.
When the BDA capability was applied to the sustainability context, it was transformed into

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the reactive capability of the government to offer a timely response to a pollution event as it
occurs because it knows the real-time situation.
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In Phase 2, which is adopting an air pollution management system, the concrete BDA
capabilities are integrating data and processing data. With these concrete BDA capabilities,
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governments could integrate multiple sources of data into the adapted system for processing
to produce the output, which is the air quality forecast. Thus, this process enables the
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government to obtain the capability to predict air quality and offer early warning of heavy
pollution events. With early warning about heavy air pollution, governments can then have
sufficient time to consult and make relevant decisions to prevent losses due to the coming
pollution events. Thus, in this regard, the government has accordingly developed a
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preventive capability by applying the predictive BDA capability to the sustainability context.

In Phase 3 of identifying air pollutant dispersion pathways, the concrete BDA

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capability is the ability to coordinate data and the ability to reuse data. By utilizing machine
learning, governments have successfully transformed the concrete BDA capabilities into a
prescriptive capability by identifying the pathways of air pollutant dispersion. With the
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identified pathways, governments can make decisions to improve the siting of air quality
monitoring equipment. Thus, when the prescriptive BDA capability was applied to the
sustainability context, the governments obtained the proactive capability to assist in
addressing the problem rather than only reacting to it.

The identified capability transformation chain also explicates the essential role of
BDA in sustainability by arguing that BDA capability can be progressively transformed into
sustainability capability within the specific context. As a result, three major sustainability

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capabilities are built based on the transformation: reactive, preventive, and proactive
capabilities. To develop these capabilities, the abstract BDA capabilities (i.e., descriptive,
predictive, and prescriptive capabilities) need to be created by developing corresponding
concrete BDA capabilities. In other words, when governments have the specific BDA
capability, their understanding, predicting, and decision making related to sustainable issues
changes from the original expert-driven approach, which was mainly based on some
sustainability experts’ experience and opinions, to a data-driven approach, which is derived
from a great amount of accurate and real-time data and their analysis results. Thus, the
change enables governments to react to the issues in a timely manner, prevent emergencies
and loss caused by the issues, and take proactive actions to address the issues.

The finding on the capability transformation also reveals that whether and to what

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extent BDA can have a major impact is highly dependent on the context, rooted in the
contextualized goals, and achieved through the process of transforming BDA capability into

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the domain-specific capability. For the current study, the context is air pollution management,
which is particularly in the domain of sustainability. Thus, the entire process of utilizing BDA
capability needs to be matched with the context of sustainability: the selection of big data
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types, the corresponding data-focused actions, the development of BDA capability, and the
interpretation and discussion of BDA results need to all consider sustainability. Accordingly,
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the study further states that cooperation between the BDA researchers/practitioners and the
experts in the specific sustainability domain is necessary when using BDA for sustainability.
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Realizing big data value progressively while accumulating BDA capability

Through data analysis, it is found that big data value can be progressively excavated by
accumulating BDA capabilities. In this case, sensor data were collected for real-time
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monitoring of air quality. When the collected data achieved this original goal, they were
accumulated into a database including historical data. It appears that these historical data
represent “data exhaust,” referring to data that do not have an attached direct value [92].
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This is consistent with one of the specific characteristics of big data, which is its “low value
density,” as researchers have argued that the data received in their original form are always
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of low value compared to their enormous volume [16]. The low value density of big data also
means that discussion of how to make full use of big data to create more data value attracts
high attention from both practitioners and researchers [23]. For this case, the study finds that
as governments developed and accumulated their BDA capability, the value of the data was
gradually unearthed.

In Phase 1, the governments obtained the concrete BDA capability of collecting data
and cleaning data and thus gained the abstract descriptive capability. In this process, the

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basic data value of the collected sensor data was generated, which is the data presenting
value to achieve the goal of monitoring air quality in real time. As discussed above, at the
end of this phase, the original goal of the sensor data was accomplished.

In Phase 2, the governments then obtained the concrete BDA capability of integrating
multiple sources of data and processing data with an information system. They consequently
obtained predictive capability and could predict data change trends. Through this capability
accumulation process, the governments exploited another way to unearth the value of
already-collected sensor data by integrating them with other sources of data and inputting all
the data into an information system for output offering air pollution predictive results, thus
creating the data processing value from its early warning ability.

At the beginning of Phase 3, the real-time sensor data were being used in two

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different ways to create different data values. The data had overfulfilled their mission and
were being accumulated in the database as historical data, which became data exhaust. In

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this phase, the governments then developed the concrete BDA capability of coordinating
multiple sources of data and reusing data to yield new insights with machine learning. The
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concrete capability empowered the governments to gain the prescriptive capability of
identifying the inner mechanisms and corresponding solutions based on the results
generated from the machine learning process. During this process, governments
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accumulated diverse and powerful BDA capabilities, which enabled the already-used data
exhaust to produce novel insights that enable the generation of data analyzing value to
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optimize air pollution management.

Synthesizing data value creation across the three phases shows that in the process
of applying BDA to sustainability, which in this case is air pollution management, the value of
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big data is progressively created. As the BDA capability of the government accumulates, the
created data value was upgraded from “presenting value” to “processing value” and,
ultimately, to “analyzing value”. The “presenting value” is delivered by providing the real-time
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monitoring of air quality information on the sites; the “processing value” is delivered by the
outputs from the information system, which are used as the basis of an early warning system
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for high pollution levels; the “analyzing value” is delivered through the identification of air
pollutant dispersion pathways, using machine learning to guide future construction of
monitoring sites and trace pollution’s origins for air pollution management optimization.

The findings also show that there are several actionable ways to unearth data value,
which involve various data investments in infrastructure, systems, and analytic techniques.
In the current study, IoT technology and advanced sensors help directly obtain accurate and
real-time sensor data on air quality and the original “presenting value” of the data from the

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single source (i.e., sensor data) can be generated. Then, by integrating the sensor data with
other sources of data, the data set is used as an input to the information system for
processing, which allows further exploration of the “processing value”. Subsequently, after
coordinating the accumulated sensor data with additional relevant data from multiple sources,
machine learning is used to further analyze them to deeply excavate the “analyzing value” of
the big data.

Discussion
Theoretical and practical contributions

This study investigates the case of air pollution management based on BDA and reveals
both the relationship between big data resource orchestration and BDA capability and the
interaction between BDA capability and sustainability capability. Focusing on using BDA for

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sustainability, two levels of BDA capability are identified, abstract BDA capability being
developed through concrete BDA capability. When BDA capability is applied to a specific

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context, sustainability in this case, it is transformed into the corresponding sustainability
capability to achieve sustainable goals. Furthermore, as the BDA capability accumulates, the
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data value is progressively unearthed. This study makes both theoretical and practical
contributions.
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First, this study is an early attempt to understand BDA for sustainability using the
theoretical lens of the resource orchestration perspective. Pursuant to the call by Baert et al.
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[93] for application of the resource orchestration perspective to contexts other than business,
this study contributes by extending this perspective to the sustainability context and studying
the process of BDA capability development. Previous studies adopted the resource
orchestration perspective by considering all possible types of resources and resource-
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focused actions to investigate organizational performance [28, 68]. However, the current
study proposes an innovative and more focused view based on using the resource
orchestration theory to understand the process of air pollution management, focusing on the
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relationship between big data resource orchestration, BDA capability, and data value
creation. The study finds that to unearth different types of data value, different BDA
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capabilities need to be developed, for which different sources of data must be orchestrated
in different ways and, accordingly, different data-specific investments are required. Thus, the
study extends and specifies the resource orchestration perspective to provide a data-specific
view on investigating sustainability issues that utilize BDA to uncover the key solution.

Second, this study responds to the call for an empirical study to discover “how to
develop” BDA capability [37], contributing to BDA studies by utilizing the case study method
to investigate the process of developing BDA capability for air pollution management. First

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and foremost, to successfully manage air pollution, it is essential to have BDA capability. It
has been agreed that there are different levels of capability [70]. This study extends this
argument by identifying two hierarchical levels of BDA capability. Concrete BDA capability is
associated with the activities in data lifecycle. Abstract BDA capability is developed based on
the acquisition of concrete BDA capability, which is more closely related to using BDA to
solve practical issues. The theoretical lens of resource orchestration shows that BDA
capability is developed through big data resource orchestration, which requires different
sources of data, different actions to orchestrate data, and different data-specific investments.
Accordingly, the study suggests two major concerns for developing focused BDA capability,
which are data quality and the data lifecycle.

Third, this study further contributes to the sustainability literature by highlighting the

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role of BDA in achieving sustainable goals. It finds that BDA capability can be transformed
into sustainability capability (i.e., reactive, preventive, and proactive capabilities) when it is

ro
applied to the sustainability context. This study to some extent illustrates how BDA works to
solve sustainability issues by supporting the relationship between BDA capability and
performance for sustainability, which extends the view of this context. It emphasizes that
-p
BDA is contextualized and has a major impact only when all the BDA activities are
conducted under consideration of a specific sustainability domain, such as air pollution
re
management. Thus, the study further suggests that cooperation between BDA
researchers/practitioners and sustainability experts is necessary for the successful use of
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BDA for sustainability.

Fourth, in line with the call for understanding how to effectively create big data value
[23], this study contributes to both the BDA research and sustainability studies by revealing
na

that big data value for sustainability is progressively created along with the process of
accumulating BDA capabilities. The finding agrees with the previous argument that big data
itself can produce little value and that its value is generated through processing and
ur

analyzing the data [40]. This study further highlights the critical role of developing BDA
capability to excavate big data value and accordingly suggests some actionable ways to
Jo

further unearth data value in the context of sustainability.

Last, this study also makes important practical contributions, especially for achieving
sustainable goals (air pollution management in this case). It illustrates the process of
developing BDA capability in the setting of air pollution management. The description and
analysis of the case in the BTH region provide a practical reference that governments can
use to develop BDA capability for solving similar pollution issues or other sustainability
problems. By highlighting the importance of big data-specific resources and the

28
corresponding actions, this study has attempted to enlighten city managers in governments
by showing that maximizing the ultimate value of big data for sustainability is not simply
making investments and collecting hordes of data. City managers need to cooperate with
both BDA experts and sustainability experts to identify which potential sustainability
capabilities to develop and the value of types of data in achieving the specific sustainability
goals, which can guide management. Furthermore, management needs to focus on
developing corresponding BDA capability to deeply unearth big data value so that it can
assist with decision making and solutions for sustainability. By referring to the findings of this
study, governments can select sources of data (e.g., sensor data, meteorological data, and
pollutant source data), conduct data-focused actions (e.g., collecting, cleaning, integrating,
processing, coordinating, and reusing data), make data-specific investments (e.g.,

of
investments in data infrastructure, data systems, and data analytics) based on their realities
and the BDA capability they need to develop, to achieve specific sustainability goals.

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Conclusion

This study is motivated by the high influx of interest in BDA for sustainability among both
-p
practitioners and academics. As BDA is still a relatively novel concept, there is a call for a
greater and deeper understanding of this topic within different contexts [94, 95]. The majority
of the extant big data literature discusses the great potential of BDA in both business and
re
society without clearly illustrating the process of developing BDA capability or how it works
for sustainability. This study conducted a case study of air pollution management based on
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BDA adopting the resource orchestration perspective and proposed a process model to
illustrate the process of developing BDA for sustainability. This study provides theoretical
and practical insights into using BDA for achieving sustainable goals and thus makes
na

valuable contributions to both researchers and practitioners in the field.

In terms of future research direction, further study is still required to add to the
existing knowledge. There is a need to extend the current research artifact of air pollution
ur

management to other sustainability issues to understand the process of developing BDA

capability for sustainability. For instance, using BDA for intelligent agriculture may lead to
Jo

novel concerns and new insights into developing BDA capability as different data-specific
investments and different sources of data may be needed to address this specific issue.
Future investigations of cases achieving different SDGs could develop more new paths for
BDA capability development, which are expected to contribute both theoretically and
practically.

Acknowledgements

29
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant
numbers 61672448, 71529001, 71632003] and the Fundamental Research Funds for the
Central Universities [grant number 63192112].

of
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-p
re
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na
ur
Jo

30
Appendix A. United Nations’ SDGs and Roles of Big Data

f
oo
pr
e-
l Pr
na
ur
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Source: United Nations [96]

31
Appendix B. List of Interviewees

Organization Organization Introduction Role Number

Hebei Department HDEP is the department in the Director of 1
of Environmental government of Hebei Province in HDEP
Protection (HDEP) China that is specifically Staff 2
responsible for addressing issues members of
of environmental protection. The HDEP
mission of HDEP is “to improve
environmental quality and build a
beautiful place that enjoys blue
sky, green land, and clean water.”
For air pollution management in
the BTH region, HDEP is mainly
responsible for establishing air
quality monitoring sites in Hebei,
supervising the establishment and

of
improvement of air pollution
management systems in each city,
taking measures and making

ro
decisions on air pollution issues,
and coordinating with the cities of
Beijing and Tianjin for united
pollution management. -p
Qinhuangdao The QEEHPFC is an independent Director of 1
Environment center in the city government of QEEHPFC
Emergency and Qinhuangdao in Hebei, which was Staff member 4
re
Heavy Pollution established specifically for of QEEHPFC
Forewarning implementation and daily
Center operation of the air pollution
(QEEHPFC) management system in
lP

Qinhuangdao. Based on the

results from the system, the
QEEHPFC is also responsible for
reporting air quality predictions
na

and early warnings of heavy

pollution to the upper departments
in the city government, as well as
publishing these results for the
public.
ur

YSUSoft YSUSoft is an IT company that General 1

provided IT services and support manager of
to the QEEHPFC for the YSUSoft
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implementation of the air pollution Project 1

management system. It was manager of
mainly responsible for the YSUSoft
installation and testing of the Staff member 3
system and the preparation of the of YSUSoft
input data.
LeadingSoft LeadingSoft is an IT company that Project 1
provided IT services and support manager of
to the QEEHPFC for the LeadingSoft
implementation of the air pollution Staff member 1
management system. It was of

32
Organization Organization Introduction Role Number
mainly responsible for adjusting LeadingSoft
the system parameters and
improving the system to increase
its predictive accuracy.
IT/IS Research This institution includes Director of 1
Institution in researchers in the field of the institution
Yanshan information technology and Team leader 1
University information systems from of the
Yanshan University in Hebei. It research
cooperated with HDEP on the project
project to identify the pathways of Team 3
air pollutant dispersion in the BTH member of
region. the research
project

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Appendix C. List of Key Interview Questions

ro
Organization Role Key questions
Hebei Department of Director of - Why did the government begin its initiative in
Environmental HDEP air pollution management in the BTH region?
Protection (HDEP) Staff member
of HDEP
-p
- What is the department’s role and
responsibilities in air pollution management?
- Why did the HDEP decide to use big data and
BDA for air pollution management?
re
- What actions related to BDA have been
undertaken for air pollution management?
- What kinds of big data have been involved in
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each action? How did the department obtain

them and manage the use of them? How did the
department analyze them and how did the
department make decisions based on the
analysis results?
na

- Have the actions related to BDA changed the

department’s ways of reacting to or making
decisions on air pollution issues? If so, how?
- Until now, what has the air pollution
management based on BDA achieved?
ur

- What challenges related to using BDA for air

pollution management were encountered and
what was done to address them?
Jo

- What was the department’s motivation for

launching the project to identify pollutant
dispersion pathways based on BDA?
- How did the department conduct the project?
- How did the department cooperate with other
organizations for the project?
- What problems were encountered in the
project and what was done to address them?
- What has the project achieved in the aspects
of air pollution management?
Qinhuangdao Director of - What is the center’s role and responsibilities in

33
Environment QEEHPFC air pollution management?
Emergency and Heavy Staff member - What was the motivation for implementing the
Pollution Forewarning of QEEHPFC air pollution management system?
Center (QEEHPFC) - What were your requirements for the system?
- How did the center implement the system?
- How did the center cooperate with other
departments in the government and other
organizations, such as the IT companies?
- What kind of data were required for the
system? How did the center collect the data and
process them?
- What are the main functions of the system?
What are the results produced from the system?
How does the center use the system for daily
work?
- What problems were encountered in the
process of implementing and operating the

of
system and what was done to address them?

YSUSoft General - What is the company’s role and responsibilities

ro
manager of in the project of implementing the air pollution
YSUSoft management system?
Project - How did the company cooperate with
manager of QEEHPFC? -p
YSUSoft - What data-related technologies/systems were
Staff member involved in the project?
of YSUSoft - What has been done by the company in the
re
LeadingSoft Project project?
manager of - What results/benefits have been produced by
LeadingSoft the system? How did they assist in air pollution
Staff member management?
lP

of LeadingSoft - What difficulties/problems were encountered

during the project and what was done to address
them?
na

IT/IS Research Director of the - What was the motivation for launching the
Institution in Yanshan institution project of identifying pollutant dispersion
University pathways based on BDA and cooperating with
the HDEP?
- What is the institution’s role and responsibilities
ur

in the project?
- How did the university cooperate with HDEP?
- What data and BDA technologies were
involved in the project? What has been done for
Jo

the project?
- What difficulties/problems were encountered
Team leader of during the project and what was done to address
the research them?
project - What has the project achieved in the
Team member aspect of air pollution management? What was
of the research the feedback and evaluation of the project from
project the government?

34
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 Author Biography

Dan Zhang is a lecturer in the Department of Information Resources Management, Business

School, Nankai University, China. Her research interests are emerging digital enablement
phenomena in businesses and societies. She has conducted in-depth case studies on state-
owned enterprises, commercial organizations, and non-profit organizations in China. She
received her Bachelor in E-Commerce from Tianjin University in China, her Master in
Management Science and Engineering from Nankai University in China, and her Ph.D. in
Information Systems and Technology Management from the University of New South Wales
(UNSW) in Australia.

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Professor Shan L Pan is an AGSM scholar and a professor of Information Systems and
Technology Management at the UNSW Business School. He is the founder and leader of the

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Digital Enablement Research Network (DERN) at UNSW Business School, a research group
focused on transformational effects of technologies and consumerization effects of
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technologies. He is currently affiliated with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for
Internet and Society, Germany. He is also an advisor to Alibaba Research Institute, China.
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His research interest is digital enablement in business and social innovation. Professor Pan
has conducted in-depth studies on state-owned enterprises, commercial organizations, rural
villages, and non-profit organizations in China, Germany, Finland, India, and Southeast Asia.
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He has published widely in top journals such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems
Research, Journal of the AIS, Information Systems Journal, European Journal of Information
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Systems, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology,

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of the Association for Information
Science and Technology, European Journal of Operational Research, IEEE Transactions on
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Engineering Management, Communications of ACM, and among others.

Jiaxin Yu is a lecturer at the School of Information Science and Engineering of Yanshan

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University. His research interests include artificial intelligence, data mining, and machine
learning, with particular emphasis on deep learning in the field of natural language
processing.

Wenyuan Liu* is a Professor and serves as the doctoral supervisor of the School of
Information Science and Engineering of Yanshan University. He also serves as the Chairman
of Hebei District of ACM. His research interests include intelligent information processing

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for large data, Internet of Things perception and mobile computing, electronic commerce and
business intelligence. He has presided over three National Natural Science Foundations and
published dozens of papers indexed by EI or SCI in international journals and conferences.

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