SDG 9: Technology Management for Innovation in the Era of AI Transformation

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce this new Special Issue of Sustainability, ‘SDG 9: Technology Management for Innovation in the Era of AI Transformation’. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the landscape of technology management and innovation. Recent breakthroughs in large language models (LLMs) are enabling organizations to automate routine tasks, analyze vast datasets, and generate insights with unprecedented scale. AI-driven tools now play an innovative role across industries, from assisting in medical diagnoses to enhancing decision-making and automation through the application of agentic AI. These advancements also contribute to sustainability by optimizing resource use, reducing carbon footprints in supply chains, and promoting eco-friendly innovations. This AI-driven transformation is not merely a passing trend, but rather a fundamental shift with far-reaching implications for how businesses operate, compete, and achieve sustainable growth. Technology leaders increasingly view generative AI as a general purpose technology capable of reshaping business models and driving new levels of creativity, efficiency, and competitive advantage. These developments underscore the urgent need for deeper academic and practical insights into managing technology and innovation in the era of AI.

In this context, this Special Issue aims to gather cutting-edge research and insights on how AI technologies can be harnessed to improve technology management practices, foster innovation, and accelerate the commercialization of new technologies. We invite both rigorous academic studies and practice-oriented research that explore the integration of AI, especially deep learning and LLM-based approaches, into the management of technology and innovation. Contributions may include novel methodologies, empirical analyses (e.g., case studies or data-driven assessments), and comprehensive reviews that shed light on the opportunities and challenges presented by AI in diverse organizational and industry contexts. Our goal is to advance the current understanding of how AI can structure knowledge, automate complex processes, and inspire new business models and strategies for sustainable innovation.

Interested scholars are encouraged to examine a wide range of topics such as the strategic use of AI in research and development (R&D) management, AI-driven decision support systems for technology investment and portfolio management, the role of AI in enabling collaboration and knowledge sharing within organizations, as well as governance considerations in managing AI-enabled innovation ecosystems. Interdisciplinary perspectives bridging information systems, strategic management, entrepreneurship, and other relevant fields are especially welcome in this Special Issue.

We invite original research articles and critical reviews on topics related, but not limited to, the following:

• AI-driven strategies for technology management and innovation;
• Applications of LLMs and generative AI for knowledge management and decision support;
• Information structuring based on LLMs;
• Machine learning techniques for technology forecasting and identifying emerging opportunities;
• AI use in technology commercialization and new product development processes;
• Business model innovation and entrepreneurship in the AI era;
• Case studies of AI integration across industries (e.g., manufacturing, healthcare, finance) to drive technological innovations;
• Augmenting human creativity and collaboration with AI tools in R&D and project management;
• Organizational learning and capability development for AI-powered innovation;
• Frameworks and methodologies for implementing AI-driven transformation in business processes;
• Development and application of agentic AI for technology commercialization or IP management;
• AI for sustainable supply chain management and circular economy models;
• Ethical governance and sustainability implications of AI in innovation ecosystems.

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

Dr. Chie Hoon Song
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.

• technology management
• LLM
• artificial intelligence
• information extraction
• natural language processing
• technology innovation
• technology forecasting
• technology recommendation
• technology evaluation
• patent data
• patent information
• agentic AI