Digital for Sustainable Development—Trends in Finance and Business

Dear Colleagues,

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries, developed and developing, in a global partnership. From this perspective, the present Special Issue intends to highlight the main new movements that have occurred in the area of business and finance in order to promote the sustainable digital development of the whole of society.

First of all,  the present call intends to highlight the main sustainable goals, including the digital goals, to determine which digital technologies facilitate the implementation of SDGs, the role of knowledge in digital sustainability, and the relationship between digital sustainability and innovation. Two sides of the digitalization process are also relevant to our Special Issue. While a higher level of digitalization in society clearly has advantages in terms of providing greater information, reduced costs, saved time, and a lower barrier of entry, there is also a negative side that is associated with environmental costs, privacy issues, the bypassing of labor laws or a greater number of financial crimes in the form of cybercrime, which affects financial security.

Another aim of this Special Issue is to enhance the role of digital finance in the attainment of the digital sustainable development goals. The digital transformation of finance (key concepts, reasons and stages; domains and key players; the regulatory framework; key digital tools such as Crowdfunding, Blockchain, Tokens, Artificial intelligence and Big data) is of great significance. A further dimension of digital finance related to cryptocurrencies, in terms of their nature, main features, classification, evolution, and impact on the existing legal and financial system, will be analyzed. We are also concerned with financial technology services, named Fintech, regulation technologies, named Regtech, and digital security issues related to the digitalization of payment services and strategies related to the digital transformation of the financial sector.

A third topic is dedicated to financial inclusion and financial education, particularly their application as tools with which to achieve the financial sustainable goals. The importance of financial integration is well documented in the literature and is recognized by the European Commission as one of the main objectives of the European Union in reducing the disparities between countries. However, there are still significant disparities with regard to the financial integration of countries, and financial education is employed as an important tool in this area.

The fourth topic is dedicated to enhancing the role of corporate governance in adopting the best practices in business, including social and environmentally responsible investments, in order to maximize the main three pillars of sustainability (3Ps), namely profit, planet, and people. In addition, the adoption of corporate social responsibility in business in times of crisis is another topic of focus, particularly as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine have triggered great movements in the whole of society.

Dr. Monica Violeta Achim
Guest Editor

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• digitalization
• sustainable development
• digital finance
• financial education
• corporate governance
• sustainable reports