The Application of Machine Learning and AI Technology Towards the Sustainable Development Goals

Dear Colleagues, 

The advancement of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) has opened new avenues for addressing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The application of these technologies can provide innovative solutions to environmental, economic, and social challenges. In this Special Issue, we aim to explore novel AI-driven methodologies that promote sustainability in various sectors, including, but not limited to, climate change mitigation, smart energy management, green transportation, and resource optimization.

Scope and Importance

AI and ML technologies offer groundbreaking approaches for sustainable development by optimizing energy usage, improving climate resilience, enhancing waste management strategies, and driving smarter infrastructure planning. With the global push towards carbon neutrality and sustainable industrialization, it is imperative to investigate and disseminate AI-based methodologies that contribute to a more sustainable future. This Special Issue seeks to highlight state-of-the-art research and review articles that align with the overarching theme of sustainability through AI advancements.

Objectives and Themes

This Special Issue will welcome high-quality original research and comprehensive review articles focusing on (but not limited to) the following themes:

• AI-driven predictive models for climate change mitigation;
• ML applications in renewable energy optimization;
• Smart grid and intelligent energy management systems;
• AI-enhanced water conservation and waste management;
• AI-driven solutions for sustainable agriculture and food security;
• AI for environmental monitoring and disaster risk assessment;
• Optimization of urban mobility and green transportation through AI;
• AI for social sustainability: education, healthcare, and economic growth.

Through this initiative, we aspire to create an interdisciplinary dialogue among AI researchers, sustainability experts, policymakers, and industry professionals to foster AI solutions that drive real-world impacts on global sustainability efforts. 

We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions to this Special Issue.

Recent References

[1] Fahim Sufi, Just-in-Time News: An AI Chatbot for the Modern Information Age, AI, Vol. 6, No. 2, PP. 22, 2025, https://doi.org/10.3390/ai6020022

[2] Edris Alam, Khawla Saeed Al Hattawi, Habiba Akter, Jahangir Alam,Elizabeth Alvarez, Fahim Sufi, Md Kamrul Islam, Abu Reza Md Towfiqul Islam, Socioeconomic, demographic and environmental factors of child drownings in Northern Bangladesh, Injury Prevention, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2024-0454341

[3] SS Baawi, ZC Oleiwi, AMA Al-Muqarm, D Al-Shammary, Fahim Sufi, Efficient malware detection based on machine learning for enhanced cloud privacy protection, Evoloving Systems, Vol. 16, No. 1, PP. 1-17, 2025, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12530-025-09661-5

[4] Fahim Sufi, Advances in Mathematical Models for AI-Based News Analytics, Mathematics, Vol. 12, No. 23, PP. 3736, 2024, https://doi.org/10.3390/math12233736

[5] Fahim Sufi, Advanced Computational Methods for News Classification: A Study in Neural Networks and CNN integrated with GPT, Journal of Economy and Technology, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ject.2024.09.001

[6] Suad Kamil Ayfan, Dhiah Al-Shammary, Ahmed M Mahdi, Fahim Sufi, Dynamic clustering based on Minkowski similarity for web services aggregation, International Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 16, No. 8, PP. 5183-5194, 2024, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41870-024-02174-5

[7] Fahim Sufi, An innovative GPT-based open-source intelligence using historical cyber incident reports, Natural Language Processing Journal, Vol. 7, No 100074, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlp.2024.100074

[8] Mustafa Noaman Kadhim, Dhiah Al-Shammary, Fahim Sufi, A novel voice classification based on Gower distance for Parkinson disease detection, International Journal of Medical Informatics, Vol. 191, No. 105583, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105583

[9] Fahim Sufi, AI approach on identifying change in public sentiment for major events: Dubai Expo 2020, Journal of Engineering Research (Elsevier), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jer.2024.07.010, 2024

[10] Fahim Sufi, A systematic review on the dimensions of open-source disaster intelligence using GPT, Journal of Economy and Technology, Vol. 2, Pages 62-78, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ject.2024.03.004, 2024

[11] Yin Wang,Weibin Cheng,Fahim Sufi, Qiang Fang and Seedahmed S. Mahmoud, A Systematic Review of Using Deep Learning in Aphasia: Challenges and Future Directions, Computers, Vol. 13, No. 5, PP. 117, https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13050117, 2024

[12] Fahim Sufi, Open-source cyber intelligence research through PESTEL framework: Present and future impact, Societal Impact, Vol. 3, No. 100047, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socimp.2024.100047, 2024

[13] Fahim Sufi, Addressing Data Scarcity in the Medical Domain: A GPT-Based Approach for Synthetic Data Generation and Feature Extraction, Information, Vol. 15, No. 5, PP. 264, https://doi.org/10.3390/info15050264, 2024

[14] Fahim Sufi, A New Time Series Dataset for Cyber-Threat Correlation, Regression and Neural-Network-Based Forecasting, Information, Vol. 15, No. 4, PP. 199, https://doi.org/10.3390/info15040199, 2024

[15] Fahim Sufi, A Sustainable Way Forward: Systematic Review of Transformer Technology in Social-Media-Based Disaster Analytics, Sustainability, Vol. 16, No. 7, https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072742, 2024

[16] Fahim Sufi, Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT) in Research: A Systematic Review on Data Augmentation. Information, Vol. 15, No. 99, https://doi.org/10.3390/info15020099, 2024 (IF: 3.1)

[17] Fahim Sufi, A global cyber-threat intelligence system with artificial intelligence and convolutional neural network, Decision Analytics Journal (Elsevier), Vol. 9, No. 100364, 2023.

[18] Fahim Sufi, A New Social Media Analytics Method for Identifying Factors Contributing to COVID-19 Discussion Topics, Information, Vol. 14, No. 10, PP. 545, https://doi.org/10.3390/info14100545, 2023 (IF: 3.1)

[19] Fahim Sufi, Musleh Alsulami, Identifying drivers of COVID-19 vaccine sentiments for effective vaccination policy, Heliyon, Vol. 9, No. 9, https://doi.org/10.3390/info14100545, 2023 (IF: 4.0)

[20] Fahim Sufi, Social Media Analytics on Russia–Ukraine Cyber War with Natural Language Processing: Perspectives and Challenges, Information, Vol. 14, No. 9, PP. 485, 2023 (IF: 3.1)

[21] Fahim Sufi, Novel Application of Open-Source Cyber Intelligence, Electronics, Vol. 12, No. 17, PP. 3610, https://doi.org/10.3390/info14090485, 2023 (IF: 2.690)

[22] Fahim Sufi, A New AI-Based Semantic Cyber Intelligence Agent, Future Internet, Vol. 15, No. 7, PP. 231, https://doi.org/10.3390/fi15070231, 2023 (IF: 3.4)

[23] Fahim Sufi, A New Social Media-Driven Cyber Threat Intelligence, Electronics, Vol. 12. No. 5, PP. 1242, https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12051242, 2023 (IF: 2.690)

[24] Edris Alam, Fahim Sufi 3, Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam, A Scenario-Based Case Study: Using AI to Analyze Casualties from Landslides in Chittagong Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh, Sustainability, Vol. 15, No. 5, PP. 4647, https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054647, 2023 (IF: 3.889)

[25] Fahim Sufi, Algorithms in Low-Code-No-Code for Research Applications: A Practical Review, Algorithms, Vol. 16, No. 2. 108, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/a16020108, 2023

[26] Fahim Sufi, Automatic identification and explanation of root causes on COVID-19 index anomalies, MethodsX (Elsevier), Vol. 10, No. 101960, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2022.101960, 2023

[27] Fahim Sufi, A decision support system for extracting artificial intelligence-driven insights from live twitter feeds on natural disasters, Decision Analytics Journal (Elsevier), Vol. 5, No. 100130, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dajour.2022.100130, 2022

[28] Fahim K. Sufi, Musleh Alsulami and Adnan Gutub, Automating Global Threat-Maps Generation via Advancements of News Sensors and AI, Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering volume, Vol. 48, PP. 2455–2472, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13369-022-07250-1, 2023

[29] Fahim Sufi, E. Alam, M. Alsulami, Automated Analysis of Australian Tropical Cyclones with Regression, Clustering and Convolutional Neural Network, Sustainability, Vol. 14, No. 16, p. 9830, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14169830, 2022 (IF: 3.889)

[30] Fahim Sufi, Imran Razzak and Ibrahim Khalil, Tracking Anti-Vax Social Movement Using AI based Social Media Monitoring, IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society, Vol. 3, No. 4, PP. pp. 290-299, https://doi.org/10.1109/TTS.2022.3192757, 2022

[31] Fahim Sufi and Ibrahim Khalil, Automated Disaster Monitoring from Social Media Posts using AI based Location Intelligence and Sentiment Analysis, IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, (Accepted, in Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSS.2022.3157142), 2022 (IF: 5.23, Q1)

[32] Fahim Sufi, E. Alam, M. Alsulami, “A New Decision Support System for Analyzing Factors of Tornado Related Deaths in Bangladesh”, Sustainability, Vol 14, No 10, p. 6303, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106303, 2022 (IF: 3.889)

[33] Fahim Sufi, “AI-SocialDisaster: An AI-based software for identifying and analyzing natural disasters from social media”, Software Impacts (Elsevier), Vol 11, No 100319, 2022, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simpa.2022.100319

[34] Fahim Sufi, “AI-Tornado: An AI-based Software for analyzing Tornadoes from disaster event dataset”, Software Impacts (Elsevier), Vol. 11, No. 100357, 2022, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simpa.2022.100357

[35] F. Sufi and M. Alsulami, "AI-based Automated Extraction of Location-Oriented COVID-19 Sentiments," Computers, Materials & Continua (CMC), Vols. 72, no. 2, pp. 3631–3649, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2022.026272  (IF: 3.772, Q1)

[36] Fahim Sufi, Identifying the Drivers of Negative News with Sentiment, Entity and Regression Analysis, International Journal of Information Management Data Insights (Elsevier), Vol. 2, No. 1, 100074, 2022, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2022.100074

[37] F. Sufi and M. Alsulami, "A Novel Method of Generating Geospatial Intelligence from Social Media Posts of Political Leaders," Information, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 120, https://doi.org/10.3390/info13030120,  2022.

[38] Fahim Sufi, AI-GlobalEvents: A Software for analyzing, identifying and explaining global events with Artificial Intelligence, Software Impacts (Elsevier), Vol 11, No 100218, 2022, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simpa.2022.100218

[39] Fahim Sufi, AI-Landslide: Software for acquiring hidden insights from global landslide data using Artificial Intelligence, Software Impacts (Elsevier), Vol 10, No 100177, 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simpa.2021.100177

[40] Fahim Sufi, Musleh Alsulami, Knowledge Discovery of Global Landslides Using Automated Machine Learning Algorithms, IEEE Access, Vol. 9, 2021, Available Online at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9546772 (IF: 3.367, Q1)

[41] Fahim Sufi and M. Alsulami, "Automated Multidimensional Analysis of Global Events with Entity Detection, Sentiment Analysis and Anomaly Detection," IEEE Access, Vol. 9, 2021, DOI: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9612169 (IF: 3.367, Q1)

[42] Fahim Sufi, "AI-based Automated Extraction of Entities, Entity Categories and Sentiments on COVID-19 Situation", IEEE Dataport, 2021, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21227/sawp-ax73.

[43] Fahim Sufi, Edris Alam, and Abu Islam, “A Scenario-based Case Study: AI to analyse casualties from landslides in Chittagong Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh”, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2022-90, in review, 2022

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Sustainability.

Dr. Sufi Fahim
Guest Editor

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• artificial intelligence (AI) in sustainability
• machine learning (ML) for sustainable development
• smart cities and AI technologies
• AI for environmental conservation
• AI-driven renewable energy management
• predictive analytics for SDGs
• AI for climate change mitigation
• AI in circular economy
• AI for green transportation
• AI in waste and water management