Sustainable Digital Transformation: Exploring Energy-Efficient Computing and Circular Design Innovations

Leveraging digital technologies for advancing circular economy practices and enhancing life cycle analysis: A systematic literature review

Identifying organizations’ dynamic capabilities for sustainable digital transformation: A mixed methods study

This study conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and contextualizes the findings through a case study of three public senior high schools (SMAN) in Lebong Regency, Indonesia. Using a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method adapted from the PRISMA framework, sixteen relevant studies were selected from international and national databases such as Scopus, Taylor & Francis, SpringerLink, SINTA, and Garuda. The analysis employed thematic synthesis to identify major patterns and relationships across studies. The findings reveal four dominant dimensions that influence the success of digital school transformation: leadership and organizational change, teacher competence and digital readiness, technology integration and pedagogical innovation, and sustainability supported by policy and institutional frameworks. The results indicate that effective change management serves as the foundation for achieving systemic and sustainable digital transformation in education. Strong leadership, continuous professional development, adaptive use of emerging technologies, and supportive policies are essential for improving teaching quality and institutional performance. This review concludes that digital transformation in schools is not solely a technological shift, but an organizational and cultural process that requires continuous adaptation and strategic management.

The circular economy (CE) provides a framework for sustainable production and consumption, with circular design playing a critical role in shifting from linear systems to models that promote continuous reuse of materials and products. However, many existing design tools focus on high-level strategies that assume entirely new business models, making them less applicable to production-oriented industries. This study explores the practical needs of designers in developing tools that support early-stage circular product ideation, where the majority of a product’s sustainability impacts are determined. We conducted two co-design workshops using a participatory design approach to surface user needs and assess current tools. Participants were graduate students in industrial design with foundational CE knowledge and experience in circular design projects. In the first workshop, participants tackled rapid design challenges and evaluated the usability and limitations of existing tools. In the second, researchers introduced key CE frameworks — such as the butterfly diagram, 9R framework, and Design for X (DfX) strategies — which participants used to prototype a circular product design card tool. The study reveals specific, practice-based needs that can guide the development of user-centred circular design tools. These insights offer a foundation for creating more actionable, production-aligned resources to support CE transitions. Keywords: Circular Economy, Circular Product Design, New Product Development, Product Circularity, Design for X(DfX), Design Strategy

General Background: Digital transformation has become a strategic approach for organizations seeking improved operational systems and competitive positioning through the integration of advanced technologies, digital strategies, and data-driven management. Specific Background: In higher education institutions, digital transformation involves technological infrastructure, data and analytics, digital strategy, security, and organizational culture to support institutional performance and competitive advantage dimensions such as quality, service excellence, and customer responsiveness. Knowledge Gap: Despite increasing global attention to digital transformation in universities, empirical studies examining its relationship with sustainable competitive advantage in educational institutions remain limited, particularly within the context of Iraqi higher education. Aims: This study aims to analyze the relationship between digital transformation dimensions and competitive advantage in the performance of educational institutions through a field study conducted in several colleges of the Holy University of Karbala. Results: The findings indicate a statistically significant relationship between digital transformation and competitive advantage dimensions. Digital strategy and data analytics show significant relationships with quality and service excellence, while data and analytics demonstrate a significant relationship with customer responsiveness. Overall results show high levels of digital transformation (mean = 4.00) and competitive advantage (mean = 4.17), with an overall mean of 4.09 indicating strong consensus regarding the role of digital technologies in institutional performance. Novelty: This study provides empirical evidence linking multiple digital transformation dimensions with competitive advantage indicators within university environments. Implications: The results highlight the importance of investing in digital infrastructure, adopting comprehensive digital strategies, and strengthening data-driven decision-making to support institutional performance and long-term competitiveness in higher education. Highlights: Strong institutional agreement regarding digital technology adoption in university operations Data analytics shows a significant relationship with responsiveness to user needs Strategic digital planning demonstrates statistical association with academic service quality Keywords: Digital Transformation; Competitive Advantage; Educational Institution Performance; Data And Analytics; Digital Strategy

This study examines the structural and digital transformation within the financial industry, portraying the urging need for green sustainable digitalization within Industry 4.0. This study aims to explore the role of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), in promoting environmental sustainability in the financial sector. The study reviews the existing literature and the identified critical challenges and opportunities in sustainable digital transformation. It proposes pathways for leveraging digitalization to attain socio-environmental sustainability and green finance. Empirical evidence supports such analysis, finding positive impacts that digital finance brings to green technology innovation and carbon neutrality, emphasizing the synergy of digital development with sustainability goals. The study finds that policy and regulation will be critical in smoothing the transition and fostering diverse social and environmental implications of sustainable digital finance. In this context, the study brings a futuristic outlook on the way digital technologies are integrated within corporate strategies to be part of sustainable development.

The role of digital technologies in modern society is analyzed in the article considering as an accelerant of innovative economic growth and life quality increase. Problem statement is determined by necessity of digital economy tools use in achieving economic recovery of the country as a method to decide a wide range of actual socio-economic problems and reach a world level of technological countries development. The analysis of Russian economy actual statement at the stage of digitization has revealed that the country is lagging behind the world in terms of the digital transformation level and speed and at the same time analyses results give reason to confirm that there is a real chance for Russia to become one of the world’s technological power. The main sources of economic growth of the Russian economy based on the digital technologies use are found out. The digital technologies role in increasing population quality of life, reducing social inequality, minimizing territorial differences in living conditions is shown. The digital technology perspectives are described to create comfortable living environment, improve business and investment climate, stirring up socio-economic activities. The features inherent in digital companies are defined. The reasons of unfavorable statement of venture capital markets as an important element of digital economy are revealed. The factors determining growth of digital economy are found out. It’s deduced that it’s necessary to adjust the government to the digital transformation wave through institutionalization of the dialogue between government and business on a range of digital economy development problems.

This study examines how Kaizen operational practices contribute to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance in manufacturing and proposes an integrative conceptual explanation of this relationship. Moving beyond an efficiency-focused view, Kaizen is conceptualised as a socio-technical system in which routines, people engagement, and learning mechanisms generate sustainability-oriented outcomes. The findings show that Kaizen consistently enhances environmental performance through resource optimisation, waste reduction, and emission control, and strengthens governance via improved transparency, accountability, and participatory decision-making. Social outcomes, however, are more contingent and depend on organisational context and managerial intent. Digital technologies—such as IoT, Big Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence—and organisational culture emerge as key mediating mechanisms. Based on qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews with experienced Kaizen practitioners, the study proposes a conceptual mechanism linking Kaizen practices to ESG outcomes through the joint mediation of digital transformation and organisational culture, offering both theoretical and managerial contributions.

PurposeProduct lifecycle management (PLM) is an enterprise-wide strategy gaining prominence across manufacturing. The fashion industry is a late adopter of PLM, yet within global fashion and textile organisations PLM is now becoming a mainstream approach to optimize core processes. This literature review analyses the latest academic research to establish a broad basis of understanding of PLM in the sector and identify potential future research directions.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review was conducted to investigate the current state and main perspectives of research on PLM in the textiles and apparel sector. The paper adopts the three features (managerial, technological and collaborative) of the definition of PLM by Corallo et al. (2013) as the analytic framework for the 27 papers to illustrate how PLM is framed and conceptualised in the RFA sector.FindingsPLM is at an interesting phase as it evolves from classical PLM 1.0 to connected PLM 2.0. The evolution of PLM from its PDM origins as an IT tool to a critical component of the strategy for digital transformation is reported. The strategic role of suppliers is noted as a critical success factor. Key inhibitors relating to PLM adoption and optimization in the sector are identified as limited holistic and theoretical perspective of PLM coupled with a deficiency in relevant industry skills. It is argued that the transformational potential of PLM 2.0 may not be fully realised without a more coordinated development effort through industrial and academic collaboration.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this study are that it is a literature review of academic papers in the RFA sector papers within the timescale 2000–2018. PLM 1.0 has dominated in this time period however the potential trajectory of connected PLM 2.0 is beginning to emerge.Practical implicationsThe results from this paper indicate that there is a lack of research on PLM in the sector and concludes by suggesting promising future research possibilities: further empirical and case studies on organisations implementing a PLM strategy; studies reporting on the contribution of PLM to address the challenges of sustainability, traceability and transparency in the industry and inter-industry collaborations; studies with knowledge management theories specifically applied to the textile and apparel sector; and the opportunity for academic and industry collaboration on the development of PLM to meet these needs.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, no systematic literature review on this topic has previously been published in academic journals. Given levels of investment in PLM platforms in the sector, both practitioners in companies and the academic community might find the review and agenda for future research useful.

The role of digital technologies in supporting and improving fishery and aquaculture across the supply chain – Quo Vadis?

This chapter frames the digital age transformation journey for sustainability from the lenses of transformation skills and competencies required for future work. It provides a synopsis of the digital transformation considering digital technologies, connecting digital transformation to future work and reflections on the new digital age to sustainability issues. In detail, this chapter comprehensively reviews digital technologies transformation skills, including digital skills and integrated skills for the digital economy linked to integrated skills. This chapter takes into consideration the possible effects from a competency point of view from the domains on issues like: global independence, trust, a shift in skills and ways of work, commitment to justice, improving the know-how, financial inclusion, data and data privacy that are critical imperatives for sustainability. Developing a digital economy requires integrated sustainable development competencies; this chapter considers combined skills for digital transformation in triple connecting points of human skills, business skills and digital building blocks skills to argue for sustainability. Because attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires input from different quotas globally, sustainable competencies are needed to ensure individuals work cohesively through new-age digital technologies. This chapter further highlights emerging competencies such as critical thinking, appreciative equity, open communication and acting on collective well-being as imperatives transforming digital disruptions. The final section of this chapter puts into perspective the implication of required digital technologies for the future of work and its significance on the need to reskill and retool. It concludes by reflecting on opportunities and challenges for crucial consideration towards creating a sustainable digital age.

Digital transformation has significantly reshaped forensic auditing practices, especially in detecting and preventing fraud in technology-driven organizations. The integration of technologies like Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), electronic auditing, and cybersecurity audits enables auditors to analyze transaction data and identify early signs of fraudulent activities. However, the effectiveness of these technologies relies heavily on auditors’ ability to operate and interpret digital system outputs effectively. This study synthesizes existing literature on the role of digital technology and auditor capabilities in enhancing the effectiveness of forensic auditing in fraud detection and prevention. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, with 30 articles published between 2020 and 2026 being analyzed. The findings show that while digital technologies improve the effectiveness of forensic auditing in fraud detection, auditor capabilities, including investigative experience, digital competence, and professional skepticism, are essential for interpreting digital analysis results. This study concludes that the successful integration of digital technologies and auditor expertise allows forensic auditing to act as both a fraud detection and prevention mechanism in the digital era.

Purpose: This article addresses the digital divide in education by proposing a cost-effective, inclusive, and sustainable digital transformation paradigm for Namibian institutions. The report identifies infrastructure, socioeconomic, pedagogical, and legislative barriers to digital education inclusion in Namibia and proposes strategic solutions based on empirical data and best practices. Methodology: The research employed a descriptive, explanatory and prospective desktop research style to assess highly referenced Scopus-indexed publications, as well as international reports from the World Bank, GSMA, UNESCO, and ITU. In addition, the study utilised bibliometric techniques and extensive document analysis. Subsidiary data generated from prominent patterns and recommendations was also extracted. Key concerns like socioeconomic inequities, educational capacity, digital infrastructure constraints and policy frameworks influencing digital education were sought to be addressed by the document analysis. Findings: Namibia has infrastructure inadequacies, socio-economic inequality, teacher digital competency gaps, and policy implementation gaps, worsening the digital divide. Mobile broadband, satellite internet, TPACK-aligned teacher training, inclusive policy reform, and public-private finance models were crucial. The study also shows that digital transformation requires infrastructure, socio-economic support, teacher capacity training, and flexible governance frameworks. Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The paper theoretically combines the TPACK model, Bourdieu's Theory of Capital, Van Dijk's Four Access Framework, and another contextualised conceptual framework, especially for developing nations. Practically, it offers international development partners, education stakeholders, and legislators with tangible plans to operationalise fair digital transformation in situations with limited resources. All things considered, the studies forward the conversation on digital inclusion and educational equity in the Global South by providing a scalable road map fit for like circumstances outside of Namibia.

Agricultural structures encompass buildings and facilities such as greenhouses, barns, and storage units that are designed to ensure efficient plant and animal production while increasing the controllability of production processes. The inability to regulate environmental conditions in these structures (such as temperature fluctuations) can lead to deteriorating animal health, yield reductions in greenhouses, and increased postharvest losses in storage units. The growing global population, limited availability of natural resources, and the effects of climate change necessitate the adoption of digital solutions in agricultural production. The integration of digital technologies into agricultural structures plays a critical role in enhancing production efficiency, optimizing energy use, improving animal welfare, and ensuring food security. However, this transformation faces significant barriers, including inadequate rural infrastructure, high installation costs, low levels of digital literacy, and limited social acceptance. The widespread implementation of digital agriculture requires not only the development of technological infrastructure but also the education of farmers, the formulation of supportive strategies by policymakers, and strong intersectoral collaboration. Consequently, the digital transformation of agricultural structures stands out as a strategic opportunity in terms of climate change adaptation, sustainable production, and the assurance of global food security. Existing studies on digital transformation in agricultural structures have primarily focused on singular applications, and comprehensive research that holistically addresses technological, socio-economic, environmental, and managerial dimensions has not been conducted. This study was undertaken to systematically examine the digital transformation process within a multidimensional framework, to identify the associated challenges and opportunities, and thereby to provide both sciences in terms of sustainable agricultural production, climate change adaptation, and global food security. Within the scope of this review, the digital transformation process in agricultural structures was examined in detail through a literature survey of international scientific databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, ResearchGate, and Google Scholar. Current practices, technical and socio-economic challenges encountered, and future expectations were comprehensively evaluated. Through this analysis, the study demonstrates how digital agricultural technologies were shaped within the framework of Agriculture 4.0, and discussed both their potential within agricultural structures and their impacts on agricultural production processes

Digital technology has brought tremendous changes to vocational education. This article focuses on the impact and role of digital technology on various aspects such as educational ideology, teaching ecology, curriculum ideology, teaching resources, teaching models, classroom organization, and effect evaluation in the classroom revolution. It conducts in-depth research to explore the value that digital technology brings to the classroom revolution, and summarizes the positive guiding strategies and implementation strategies of digital technology for classroom revolution, leverages the positive guiding role of digital technology for classroom revolution, and assists in talent cultivation.