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Sustainability
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Digitalization, Innovation and Sustainability
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Digitalization, Innovation and Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 22960

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Thijs L.J. Broekhuizen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, 9712 CP Groningen, The Netherlands
Interests: sustainability; digitalization; innovation; disruption
Prof. David J. Langley

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Strategic Analysis and Policy (Strategic Business Analysis), TNO, 9701 BK Groningen, The Netherlands; Faculty of Economic and Business, University of Groningen, 9712 CP Groningen, The Netherlands
Interests: digital innovations; circular economy

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Digital technologies, such as social media, the internet of things, data analytics, blockchain, 3D printing, robotics and artificial intelligence, are the basis for vast numbers of product, service, process and business model innovations that bring about significant transitions in the ways that industries, organizations and people behave. It is no exaggeration to state that these technologies (and the corresponding growth of digital data and analytical techniques) are transforming economies, societies and our relationship with the natural world. However, as these innovations increasingly pervade every aspect of our daily lives, we urgently need research that explores and explains digitalization, how it drives innovation, and what the effects are on sustainability. This Special Issue seeks to advance the scholarly understanding of how digitalization, innovation and sustainability are intertwined; highlight insightful examples of best and worst practices; and provide theoretically and empirically grounded recommendations for improving implementation and impact.

The focus of this Special Issue is the interrelationships between digitalization, innovation and sustainability. The topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Sustainable digital technologies that reduce the negative environmental impact of products during production, distribution and use;
  • Sustainability-enhancing digital innovations that reduce the negative environmental impact of other products and processes;
  • Data-driven providence and the tracking of materials through supply chains;
  • Digital and innovative solutions for enabling sustainability impact assessment;
  • Digitalization as a driver of more eco-friendly and new sustainable business models (servitization, product as a service, peer sharing, zero waste, etc.);
  • The development of business models in digitalized ecosystems of multiple stakeholders where value is co-created and multiple value components are shared;
  • Innovation management processes (both digitally enabled and non-digital) and theories to enhance sustainability;
  • The role of digital innovations in hybrid organizational and ecosystem strategies (i.e., aimed at both financial and ecological benefit for the firm and ecosystem).

We address this call for papers to a wide range of academic disciplines with a shared interest in advancing our understanding of digital innovations and sustainability, including strategic management, innovation and organization, business ethics, entrepreneurship, information systems and more. We are particularly open to submissions that adopt an interdisciplinary approach. We encourage the submission of ground-breaking empirical studies and conceptual manuscripts that are well-grounded in academic literature. Of particular interest are submissions using forward-looking approaches, including design science, simulations and thought experiments.

Prof. Dr. Thijs L.J. Broekhuizen
Prof. David J. Langley
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • digitalization
  • digital innovation
  • big data
  • data analytics
  • artificial intelligence
  • internet of things
  • blockchain
  • robotics
  • innovation
  • industry transition
  • digital transformation
  • behavioral change
  • ecological impact
  • Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 897 KiB  
Article
Boosting Sustainability through Digital Transformation’s Domains and Resilience
by Reihaneh Hajishirzi, Carlos J. Costa and Manuela Aparicio
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1822; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031822 - 5 Feb 2022
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5213
Abstract
Sustainability is a must for all businesses in all industries. It can boost company image and productivity while being aligned with customer needs. On the other hand, digital transformation (DT) is vital for business environments, and organizations need to be resilient in the [...] Read more.
Sustainability is a must for all businesses in all industries. It can boost company image and productivity while being aligned with customer needs. On the other hand, digital transformation (DT) is vital for business environments, and organizations need to be resilient in the face of crises such as COVID-19. The main objective of our study is to figure out how DT and organizational resilience might help businesses become more sustainable. This study presents a model that explains social, environmental, and economic sustainability considering the domains of DT and organizational resilience. Our model is evaluated on the data gathered by 208 c-suite leaders from various Iranian companies. The model was empirically validated through a quantitative method of Partial Least Squares/Structural Equation Modeling (PLS/SEM) technique. The findings reveal that the five studied factors have substantial impact on the sustainability of Iranian organizations including data-driven, business process innovation, customer engagement, organizational resilience, and competitive advantages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digitalization, Innovation and Sustainability)
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28 pages, 3705 KiB  
Article
Is There a Smart Sustainability Transition in Manufacturing? Tracking Externalities in Machine Tools over Three Decades
by Inéz Labucay
Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 838; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020838 - 12 Jan 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3089
Abstract
Only one third of studies on the Industry 4.0–sustainability link have been conducted in manufacturing, despite its centrality to “ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns” (UN Sustainable Development Goal nr. 12). The European Ecodesign Directive singled out machine tools as key to the [...] Read more.
Only one third of studies on the Industry 4.0–sustainability link have been conducted in manufacturing, despite its centrality to “ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns” (UN Sustainable Development Goal nr. 12). The European Ecodesign Directive singled out machine tools as key to the sustainability transition, not least due to their high energy usage and their increasingly becoming enmeshed in cyber-physical production systems. This paper aims to find out whether the digital transformation underway in machine tools is sustainable as well as to identify its central technological pathways. Externalities in machine tools are tracked over three decades (1990–2018) by means of a multi-method setting: (1) mapping the Technological Innovation System (TIS) of machine tools; (2) co-occurrence analysis of transnational patent families, in order to reduce geographical and market distortions (Questel’s FAMPAT); and (3) analysis of the incidence of digital and sustainable technologies in machine tools patent applications (WIPO PATENTSCOPE). A smart sustainability transition is currently not hampered by a lack of smart technologies but rather by the sluggish introduction of sustainable machine tools. Cyber-physical and robot machine tools have been found to be central pathways to a smart sustainability transition. Implications for harnessing externalities reach beyond the machine tools industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digitalization, Innovation and Sustainability)
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16 pages, 299 KiB  
Article
Internet Usage, Human Capital and CO2 Emissions: A Global Perspective
by Jing Wang and Yubing Xu
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8268; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158268 - 23 Jul 2021
Cited by 64 | Viewed by 4333
Abstract
Under the background of dealing with global warming, the widespread use of the internet provides a new idea for countries to develop a low-carbon economy at the right time. Based on the panel data of 70 countries from 1995–2018, this paper empirically analyzes [...] Read more.
Under the background of dealing with global warming, the widespread use of the internet provides a new idea for countries to develop a low-carbon economy at the right time. Based on the panel data of 70 countries from 1995–2018, this paper empirically analyzes the relationship between internet usage, human capital, and CO2 emissions under different levels of economic development by using system GMM and a threshold regression model. The results show that internet usage and human capital are essential drivers of low-carbon economy development, and human capital can inversely regulate the impact of internet usage on CO2 emissions. Internet usage can increase CO2 emissions when human capital is below the threshold value, and it can significantly inhibit CO2 emissions when human capital exceeds the threshold value. In other words, with the accumulation of human capital, the effect of internet usage on CO2 emissions has an inverted U-shaped nonlinear relationship. Furthermore, the empirical analysis of high-income and middle- and low-income countries indicates the hindrance effect of internet usage on CO2 emissions is more evident in high-income countries. For both the high-income and middle- and low-income countries, the relationship between internet usage and CO2 emissions generally shows an inverted “U-shaped” relationship, first rising and then falling as human capital accumulates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digitalization, Innovation and Sustainability)
20 pages, 2083 KiB  
Article
Digital Economy and Environmental Quality: Evidence from 217 Cities in China
by Zihanxin Li, Nuoyan Li and Huwei Wen
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 8058; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13148058 - 19 Jul 2021
Cited by 110 | Viewed by 6910
Abstract
With the rapid development of the digital economy, understanding the relationship between the digital economy and the environment is increasingly important for sustainable development. This study mainly studies the nexus of digital economy development and environmental quality for 217 cities in China from [...] Read more.
With the rapid development of the digital economy, understanding the relationship between the digital economy and the environment is increasingly important for sustainable development. This study mainly studies the nexus of digital economy development and environmental quality for 217 cities in China from 2003 to 2018. Specifically, this study first evaluates the degree of coupling coordination between the digital economy system and the environmental system. Results show that the coupling coordination degree between the digital economy system and the environmental system shows a fluctuating rise from 2003 to 2018. Furthermore, this study empirically investigates the impact of digital economy development on PM2.5, which represents environmental quality, and results show that digital economy development significantly reduces PM2.5. The above finding is still valid by using the quasi-natural experiment of broadband China for the robustness test. Urbanization, population density, and economic development have caused threshold effects. When the urbanization rate and population density exceed a certain threshold, the digital economy significantly inhibits PM2.5. In contrast, when the per capita GDP exceeds a certain threshold, the digital economy significantly promotes PM2.5. The digital economy mainly affects pollutant emissions through direct and technological effects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digitalization, Innovation and Sustainability)
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