Special Issue "IT-Enabled Sustainability and Development"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Farid Shirazi
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
Interests: ICT4D; ICT sustainability; big data analytics, IS security & privacy, AI and machine learning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

ICT has potentials to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% by 2030 by helping companies, and consumers more intelligently use energy. ICT applications can help increase agricultural crop yields by 30%, saving over 300 trillion liters of water, and 25 billion barrels of oil a year, generating USD 11 trillion in economic benefits by 2030. In addition, ICT is part of a country's critical infrastructure. They also offer several environmentally friendly applications, from monitoring the environment and animals to applications of e-agriculture.  ICT wireless sensors provide energy-saving applications, such as smart grids, homes, buildings, metering, and renewable energy integrated with sustainable smart city projects.

However, technological change and innovation need to be directed towards inclusive and sustainable outcomes, through a purposeful effort by governments, in collaboration with civil society, business, and academia.

Dr. Farid Shirazi
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • sustainable innovation
  • environmental issues
  • IoT
  • big data analytics
  • artificial intelligence
  • smart city

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
IT-Enabled Sustainable Innovation and the Global Digital Divides
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9711; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179711 (registering DOI) - 30 Aug 2021
Viewed by 168
Abstract
This article investigates the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs), human capital, institutional settings, socio-economic, and environmental parameters on sustainable innovation (SI) using archival data for 127 economies from 2008 to 2017. We developed an econometrics research framework for investigating factors influencing [...] Read more.
This article investigates the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs), human capital, institutional settings, socio-economic, and environmental parameters on sustainable innovation (SI) using archival data for 127 economies from 2008 to 2017. We developed an econometrics research framework for investigating factors influencing SI on a global scale. We found that ICT variables, such as ICT access and ICT broadband network, positively influence sustainable innovation in conjunction with the socio-economic and political parameters. Despite differences among economies in terms of ICTs, socio-economic development, and educational attainment, ICTs are the significant drivers of sustainable innovation and economic growth. We observed a growing digital divide among nations within the context of the knowledge-based economy and the expansion of digital commerce, particularly in the least developed countries and Africa, a phenomenon impeding sustainable innovation growth. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that empirically investigates the global digital divide from sustainable innovation perspectives. The results of this study suggest that to tackle the digital divide issues, policymakers and educational institutes need to perform constructive educational reform in higher education curricula, particularly concerning STEM programs, which should reflect the necessary skills and competencies for deploying emergent technologies. In addition, ICT should be considered part of a country’s critical infrastructure, particularly investment in the broadband networks regarded as the backbone of today’s innovation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue IT-Enabled Sustainability and Development)
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