Innovation Paradigm Shift in the Digital Era: From Technological Breakthroughs to Social Transformation
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 13 November 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editors
Interests: digital twin
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: artificial Intelligence and data analytics
Interests: data science; traffic sensing and optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue, Innovation Paradigm Shift in the Digital Era: From Technological Breakthroughs to Social Transformation, focuses on the intersection of digital innovation and sustainability. It emphasizes not only the technological breakthroughs themselves—such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain and digital twins—but, more importantly, how these technologies enable systemic change in organizations, industries, cities and societies to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The scope of the issue covers an interdisciplinary range of topics, including:
- Digital strategies for low-carbon transitions, green growth and circular economy;
- Applications of AI in sustainable mobility, energy systems and smart urban planning;
- Governance frameworks, ESG metrics and responsible digitalization standards;
- Behavioral change, equity and inclusiveness in the adoption of digital innovations;
- Case studies demonstrating the translation of technological advances into policy action, organizational transformation and social practice;
- Methodological developments such as simulation, life cycle assessment and causal inference tools integrated with digital platforms.
The primary purpose of this Special Issue is to advance understanding of how digital breakthroughs can catalyze broader socio-technical transformations that foster sustainability. It will provide an integrated platform for empirical, methodological and theoretical contributions from diverse disciplines. In this way, it aims to illuminate pathways for digital innovations to achieve not only efficiency gains but also inclusiveness, resilience and equity in sustainable development.
While the existing literature often highlights the technical potential of digital technologies, it tends to underexplore their translation into organizational, behavioral and policy-level change. This Special Issue directly addresses that gap by situating technological innovation within a broader socio-technical and governance context. It complements prior studies on digital tools for sustainability by bringing a stronger emphasis on systemic transformation, cross-sectoral integration and practical implications for decision-makers, thereby contributing to both academic scholarship and real-world practice.
Dr. Yang Ma
Dr. Ruo Jia
Guest Editors
Dr. Qi Cao
Guest Editor Assistant
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 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 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.
Keywords
- digital transformation
- sustainability transitions
- artificial intelligence and big data
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- circular economy
- smart cities and sustainable mobility
- governance and ESG metrics
- socio-technical systems
- equity and inclusiveness
- digital twins and cyber-physical systems
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