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Current research on the relationship between digital transformation and financial performance (FP) remains inconclusive. This paper conceptualizes digital transformation as technology-based digital transformation (TDT) and market-based digital transformation (MDT), and explores their heterogeneous impacts on FP. It is further assessed how such distinctive effects are moderated by three types of entrepreneurs' social capital, i.e. entrepreneurs' technological social capital (ETSC), entrepreneurs' business social capital (EBSC), and entrepreneurs' institutional social capital (EISC). Using a carefully assembled dataset containing the relevant information of 2363 listed Chinese manufacturing firms covering the period of 2008–2018, these relationships are empirically examined, and the following is found: (1) TDT positively affects FP; (2) MDT has a time-lagged positive effect on FP; (3) ETSC positively moderates the relationship between MDT and FP; (4) EBSC positively moderates the impacts of TDT and MDT on FP. These findings enrich the understanding of the concept and application of digital transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation – the pervasive incorporation of digital technology into virtually every process and system – is arguably the greatest force of change within the naval engineering community. Digital innovation is disrupting traditional ship design paradigms and giving rise to new ways of modernising and sustaining a future integrated force structure. This paper highlights digital transformation as a core strategic initiative that is aligned with the U.S. Department of Defense Digital Engineering Strategy. Recognising the need to expand the U.S. Navy's advantage over its competitors, this paper identifies foundational elements required to transform current engineering design and development processes. Next, a multi-factor framework is introduced to align traditional processes employed for physical system design and development with a new digital paradigm in recognition of the highly integrated nature of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). Finally, discussion will focus on efforts underway to leverage advanced computational models and highlight the digital engineering use case for Naval Power and Energy Systems (NPES). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, digital technologies have become ubiquitous, impacting and changing the ways society operates. Immense public and economic value is being created by improving access to information and resources. Hence, many public administration units around the globe continue to focus on digital transformation. Although mostly associated with digitizing services and workflow via software platforms, India's efforts have taken a "Lego building block approach" toward technology which can be repurposed and recombined to deliver solutions at the social level. These digital public infrastructure (DPI) blocks have had significant impact on socio-economic development. In this special issue, we explore the role of DPI in digitally transforming public service delivery and in creating public value. The issue aims to make an important contribution to public administration and digital government literature, by examining India's DPI and its positive externalities, in particular its role in financial and health inclusion. These papers include vital knowledge that can support policy processes on digital transformation and public value creation for India and other developing countries of the global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before and aftermath of COVID-19 has created multiple waves of digital transformation adoption in supply chain management. The power of potential benefits is realised as a multitude however the transformation phases are not sustainable. This editorial special issue has edited papers of scholarly research contributions to the theory and practice of digital transformation aspects in the field of logistics and supply chain management. Based on the summary of each contribution and an extended literature review on the theme, this editorial paper proposes a novel framework that could facilitate the logistics industry at times of disruptive technologies when firms are struggling to cope with the challenges created due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In disrupted environments, the concept of digitalisation, viability, and sustainability have attracted considerable attention for the last decade. Digital, lean, and green capabilities have stimulated enormous advances in the development of industries. This paper discusses the current state of the art literature regarding sustainable and digital supply chain management performance. It reviews the relationship between digital technologies, lean, green, sustainability, and supply chain performance. A literature review approach, combined with a bibliometric analysis was adopted for robust field analysis. A set of 86 papers has been analysed and synthesised. The analysis of these papers has enabled the identification of the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on the supply chain performance; the relationship of lean, green, and sustainability capabilities and digital supply chain; and the implications of the digital transformation of those capabilities. It presents a roadmap model integrating lean and green for viable, sustainable, and digital supply chain performance. The study is useful for academics and practitioners as it provides a roadmap framework and a solid background for integrating lean and green in the digital supply chain to achieve sustainable and viable performance as it outlines the necessity for incorporating the sustainability and viability performances in the digital supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technology has a significant impact on most industries in the 21st century. The publishing industry is also facing digital transformation, and the traditional paper business is considered polluted and wasteful as it generates carbon emissions. To compare the influence of digital paperless business with the traditional one on environmental performance in publishing, this paper adopts a refined weak disposability model initially introduced by Kuosmanen (2005). The main novelty of the paper is to include two types of desirable outputs in production technology: one is linked to generating undesirable outputs while another is not. Two additional economic assumptions can be imposed on environmental production technology, namely, weak disposability and null-jointness, respectively. We apply the refined model to assess the economic and environmental performance of the publishing industry in China. The paper business generates carbon emissions while the digital outputs (paperless business) may not produce pollution. The empirical results indicate that a vast potential improvement is detected for the digital outputs while limited progress is allowed for traditional outputs. Furthermore, we use the entropy method to obtain a comprehensive digital technology indicator and further explore its influence on performance in the publishing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital transformation of libraries is the theme of the paper which is divided into two parts: the hybrid library and the library of the future. Based on an extensive analysis of the literature, especially centered on German-language libraries, the digital transformation of libraries is described. The first part analyzes the innovation in the concept of the hybrid library. The second part outlines the future of libraries presented as an evolution of current trends of distributed collections and data curation. In conclusion, the new role of librarians is described as "embedded" in the user research workflow and interconnected in an ongoing dialogue with users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the data of Chinese A-share listed companies to study whether enterprise digital transformation will affect the labor income share. The research results show that enterprise digital transformation greatly increasing the labor income share, and our inferences unchanged after a wide battery of robustness tests. Further studies show that the mechanism of digital transformation to increase labor income share is to expand the scale of employment and increase the proportion of highly skilled labor in the total labor force. Subsample study shows that digital transformation only raises the labor income share of larger scale and higher competitive position enterprises. The research can provide policy references for developing digital economy and improving development quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses three case studies of early science museum-related websites in the 1990s and early 2000s, when web technology was still relatively new and evolving. The Virtual Museum of Computing (VMoC) was a completely virtual museum, originally produced in 1995 as part of the Virtual Library museums pages (VLmp), an international online museum directory within the WWW Virtual Library, adopted by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The Science Museum in London was one of the first museums in the United Kingdom to have its own web server. The museum hosted an early meeting on web service provision by and for museums, concurrently with an exhibition on the Information Superhighway at the museum in 1995. Exhiblets were launched online in 1998. Ingenious was a multi-site digital collections transformation project, launched as a website in 2003. Virtual Leonardo and Leonardo's Ideal City were two experiments conducted by the digital team of the Science and Technology Museum of Milan, between 1999 and 2001. The experiment consisted of the creation of a shared online 3D world, namely a reconstruction of the real museum in the first case and a completely imaginary world in the second case. This paper describes the above three case studies from the early World Wide Web and then draws some conclusions, from first-hand experience of developments at the time. We cover both the advantages and the challenges encountered by the various projects and illustrate why they did not necessarily become established, despite promising early results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support adequate strategic decisions, every digital transformation begins with an analysis of the current state of the company. These analyses often include the use of digital maturity models (DMMs). There are numerous DMMs in a wide variety of industries and application areas. While most of these models primarily address the digital maturity of manufacturing companies as a whole, only a few DMMs focus on particular departments or processes. Thus, there is a research gap in this field of study. This paper contributes to the identified gap by developing a DMM for the sales process in B2B project business. Building on a literature review that identified and examined specific DMMs which have been developed in the B2B context, we conducted a case study using expert interviews at a large German industrial company to develop a DMM of the different phases of the sales process. This DMM shall contribute to the research of maturity models and guide companies of different industries in their digital transformation activities focusing on the digitalization of their sales process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation goes beyond digitalization to make radical changes to organisational models and social structures. It takes people with knowledge, skills and motivation to use ICTs to be able to carry out digital transformation. Human capital is seen to be the key for effective digital transformation as it can fuel sustainable development when people use ICTs to lead the lives they choose to live. Unless there is a transformation in capabilities, access to ICTs, requisite skills and knowledge, then digital transformation will merely exacerbate existing inequalities. It will need to touch personal psychology: not merely enabling the marginalised to participate but offering them the ability use digitalization to improve their lives. The human capital key to digital transformation is offered as a means of attaining positive cycles of sustainable development. Lessons learned from papers in this issue throw insight into ways of applying digital technologies to overcome forces of oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of the digital transformation of agriculture and China’s ‘dual-carbon’ strategy for agriculture is new momentum for developing agriculture, reducing rural income inequality, and improving the subjective well-being of farm households. This paper uses data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2014, 2016, and 2018 to examine the impact of internet use on rural income inequality at the household level. The results show that internet use can significantly reduce rural income inequality by enhancing information availability and farm households’ nonfarm employment level. The results of a heterogeneity analysis reveal that the internet is more conducive to improving the income inequality of rural burdened families and families in Western China. Further analysis shows that improving income inequality can enhance the subjective wellbeing of farmer households. Accelerating the construction of digital villages, building internet skills cultivation systems, and focusing on the utility of internet use among vulnerable rural groups can reduce rural income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With growing trade volumes and more stringent regulations, digital transformation (DT) is crucial for container lines to keep abreast with the new trends in the container shipping industry. The objective of this research is to theoretically identify the crucial success elements for DT in container lines by evaluating four main theories: (1) innovation diffusion theory, (2) resource-based view theory, (3) stakeholder theory, and (4) competence motivation theory. Accordingly, the CSFs identified were 'stakeholder expectations', 'organisational competency', 'technology acceptance', and 'individual motivation'. A survey was then crafted and handed out to major container lines. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) was then conducted to analyse the collected data. The results show that organisational competency is the most important CSF, followed by technology acceptance, stakeholders' expectations, and individual motivation. The top three sub-CSFs are financial stability, regulatory bodies' expectations, and digital readiness. This research paper contributes to theory and management practices by providing a holistic theoretical framework to identify and rank the CSFs of DT in container lines. Overall, this research paper enriches current literature on the DT of container lines and offers new insights into container lines in the CSFs in the implementation of DT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies are now part of our daily lives, and the speed of their implementation and use has been accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital transformation, seen in the past as a problem, is now perceived as an important component in the future of sustainable development (SD), especially at higher education institutions whose operations have been adversely affected by the pandemic in many ways. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the subject matter of digital transformation and how it relates to a SD context. It reports on the results of a worldwide survey at higher education institutions, which identified some areas where the pandemic impacted and/or influenced their activities. The survey received 158 responses and a principal component analysis was performed to model the items associated with digital tools boosting SD, innovative business opportunities and ideas, and needs for improvement at HEIs. The results indicate that most part of the respondents developed digital skills and increased their involvement with e-learning and distance learning; however, more digital training is needed. Findings also support the role played by digital technologies in boosting SD at HEIs, and the role of institutions in promoting innovation through digital tools. Apart from an analysis of the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to digital transformation in an SD context in higher education institutions, the paper provides an assessment of trends and recommendations that may guide future developments in a post-pandemic work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a world bombarded with unprecedented challenges, it is paramount for organizations to embrace resilience in all their processes, albeit supply chain management. In the wake of ever-intensifying race for digital transformation, it is crucial for organizations to follow structured roadmaps towards building digital supply chain resilience (DSCR) through striking a balance between supply chain resilience (SCR) and supply chain vulnerabilities (SCV), in a manner that does not erode profits, neither expose the organization to increasing vulnerabilities. The paper addresses the evolution of SCR, the SCR and SCV drivers, and recommends investment in particular Industry 4.0 (I4.0) enablers. The outcomes of this paper are (a) a discussion of the complementary relationship between SCR and SCV drivers; (b) a thorough understanding of the possible contributions of I4.0 technologies towards DSCR; and (c) a roadmap for future research into the integration of SCR drivers and SCV constrained by the resilience fitness space (RFS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lean Production Systems are enterprise-specific, methodical frameworks for the continuous orientation of all enterprise processes to the customer in order to achieve overall objectives. Due to an increasing complexity of the digital transformation, the design of Lean Production Systems 4.0 is a challenging task for industrial engineering practice. For this, academia and industrial practice were analysed in a combined approach of a systematic literature review and a field study. The systematic literature review of 62 out of 1600 scientific papers shows that especially the tools, processes, and methods in Lean Production Systems are subject to digital transformation. By involving industrial practice in a field study, quantitative and qualitative insights were used to check scientific hypotheses and identify practical requirements by industrial engineers. As a result, 10 guidelines for the design of future Lean Production Systems 4.0 are derived. The practical implications of this paper enhance the evolution of enterprise-specific Lean Production System 4.0 frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning (ML) is widely used in many industries, resulting in recent interests to explore ML in geotechnical engineering. Past review papers focus mainly on ML algorithms while this paper advocates an agenda to put data at the core, to develop novel algorithms that are effective for geotechnical data (existing and new), to address the needs of current practice, to exploit new opportunities from emerging technologies or to meet new needs from digital transformation, and to take advantage of current knowledge and accumulated experience. This agenda is called data-centric geotechnics and it contains three core elements: data centricity, fit for (and transform) practice, and geotechnical context. The future of machine learning in geotechnics should be envisioned with this "data first practice central" agenda in mind. Data-driven site characterization (DDSC) is an active research topic in this agenda because an understanding of the ground is crucial in all projects. Examples of DDSC challenges are ugly data and explainable site recognition. Additional challenges include making ML indispensable (ML supremacy), learning how to learn (meta-learning), and becoming smart (digital twin). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to explore the emerging issue of Digital Transformation (DT) in the Greek fashion industry, which according to literature, is highly fragmented, populated by a large number of digitally immature SMEs and financially strained, even before the outburst of the COVID-19 crisis. This paper aims to explore the current level of knowledge, understanding and adoption of Digital Transformation from fashion companies in Greece, by evaluating the results of an online survey of sixty middle and top-level executives from the fashion industry. The descriptive analysis of the survey data reveals the aforementioned technology lag and -among other findings- showcases the need for a more comprehensive, efficient, structured, less fragmented and coordinated approach towards developing a digital strategy and implementation roadmap that will guide fashion companies through the harsh realities of the post-COVID19 era, as dictated and imposed by the 'next normal' for manufacturers and retailers all over the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This narrative literature review advances understanding of travel vlogs as a critical component of contemporary digital tourism marketing and highlights the transformation of digital marketing over the past three decades. The paper explores the role of vlogs in modern tourism marketing practices and proposes a travel vlog ecosystem comprising three actors: the vlogger, the viewer, and the destination marketer. The paper is the first to examine the motivations and interactions of each of these actors and proposes a new model to explain these roles and relationships. The paper advances the tourism destination digital marketing literature by examining existing literature gaps and identifying future research opportunities in vlogging activities, particularly the vlogging ecosystem and the involvement of three main central actors. Given the increasing importance of social media in destination marketing strategy, this paper also provides valuable practitioners insights to inform strategic marketing activities using vlogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital divide gained new importance since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemics. However, the phenomenon is far from being fully conceptualized or effectively measured. The key question, whether digital divide is a mere extension of other social inequalities, or it has significant new meaning, remains largely unanswered; a reason is the lack of effective instruments of quantitative study of the phenomenon that would capture its complex nature. The present paper addresses both conceptualizing and measurement issues, suggesting that separation of supply- and demand-side considerations is crucial in understanding the digital divide and introducing a composite Digital Life Index, measures separately the digital supply and demand across seven independent dimensions. The Index is based on Internet-borne data, a distinction from traditional research approaches that rely on official statistics or surveys. Though the empiric part of the paper is focused on the sub-national digital divide in Russia we argue that its methodology can be applied on many other levels and its conceptual findings are relevant to understanding the phenomenon globally. The hierarchical regression analysis is used to determine the relative importance of factors like income, human capital, and policy in shaping the digital divide. The result of the analysis suggests that the digital divide is driven more by the differences in demand than in supply; the role of income is insignificant, and the quality of policy and human capital is the key determinant of the divide. The paper advances the existing conceptual and methodological literature on the issue and can also inform practical decision-making regarding the strategies of national and regional digital development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Museums have widely used digital technologies to expand their societal and cultural impact. In terms of their use of information technologies (IT), museums have evolved from initial experiments in the 1950s to a significant online presence today. In the process of digital transformation, museums have shaped their digital identity, aiming to expand their activities beyond museum walls with emerging new roles in the digital era. The concept of museums' digital identity is the focus of this paper. To articulate the concept, the theory of digital identity, the methodology of web history, the concept of virtual museums, and museum branding, are brought into consideration. The author articulates the concept of museums' digital identity and outlines a number of components at the collective and individual levels embodied in national strategies and policy documents relating to digital transformation, articulated in statements by museum associations, revealed in features of their online presence, and embedded in brand design. In the conclusion, the author raises questions about the driving force of museums in developing digital identity and the need to comprehensively analyse the multiplatform museum presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital Transformation has generated much research and curiosity recently, with the COVID-19 global pandemic accelerating its pace across all industry sectors. Current literature has not adequately provided a comprehensive understanding of Digital Transformation Leadership (DTL). The objective of this research is to explore the characteristics of DTL by undertaking a comprehensive review of Information Systems literature using a systematic procedure of identifying and coding 87 research papers, resulting in 600 coded excerpts, capturing the 'who' and 'what' of DTL. Our analysis identifies eight DTL characteristics, namely: digital strategist, digital culturalist, digital architect, customer centrist, organisational agilist, data advocate, business process optimiser and digital workplace landscaper. We discuss mapping the DTL characteristics to c-suite roles, presenting a taxonomy from the literature, of interest to both academics and practitioners. This research raises the awareness of the concept of DTL characteristics, especially amongst those in positions of leadership and decision making authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academia has requested more research on the 'digitalization of the food environment', which has been recently reviewed as an important but weakly covered research area. The paper probes service automation in the foodservice industry using intelligent self-service (ISS) technology. The main research question is how the skills and knowledge (S&K) requirements change with ISS. In the study, a framework was developed to provide a view of competencies in service management. A single case study with a mixed method focused on an ISS pilot at a lunch cafeteria, during which the S&K requirements were evaluated. Empirical data enabled analyzing the S&K needs before and after the technology implementation. Findings underline that ISS reminds typical platform orchestration, where the S&K requirements include e.g. digital marketing, data analytics, and lean operations. Hospitality workers have been reported to be weakly covered in hard skills and digital problem-solving, which sets a challenge to human resource management. Other studies have pointed out that the gig economy could solve resource challenges in digitizing industries. This is one of the first papers released on the human resource impact of ISS. It contributes to discussions on the foodservice industry as well as to the digital transformation of a business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pace of corporate digital transformation has been accelerating all over the world. This paper investigates the impact of digital transformation on corporate fraud with probit model in Chinese scenario. The results show that the digital transformation of enterprises can help curb the occurrence of fraud in general. However, the heterogeneity test results suggest that the application of digital technology may increase the possibility of some types of fraud as well. Considering possible endogeneity issues, this paper checks the results with the methods of Heckman two-step model and IV probit model and the conclusion remains robust. The empirical results suggest that accelerating the digital transformation of enterprises will help improve the quality of enterprises, optimize the capital market environment, but it is very important to guard against delayed disclosure in digitalization era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the impact of the war on the education system in Ukraine, following the Russian invasion of February 2022, with millions of students being forced to flee for safety to foreign countries, and millions of others remaining in danger on the territory of Ukraine. It addresses different modes of delivery, changes to education legislation, the 2022 university admission campaign, and international support. Despite the state of war and economic problems, the digital transformation of Ukrainian education continues. The paper utilises quantitative and qualitative data. Methods of generalisation and grouping are applied to classify problems: socio-psychological, economic, technological, organisational, communication, and methodological, as well as such urgent needs as the availability of a safe physical space in educational facilities, development of response procedures and behaviour patterns in emergencies, psychological support, a flexible mode of delivery, technical support of the teaching-learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Vietnamese government announced the National Digital Transformation Programme by 2025 to invest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, to become one of the top players in Southeast Asia by 2030, challenging frontrunners like Indonesia and Singapore. Through educational policies such as establishing AI and data science majors in public universities, the country has started to nurture a domestic talent base. Research labs both within university systems as well as at private industry labs such as VinAI and FPT have recruited Vietnamese nationals as well as international researchers to bolster AI research that puts Vietnam on the global map of AI development. However, the country's pursuit is facing obstacles. Issues involve an AI talent shortage, weak intellectual property laws for solid and safe innovation, and unstable global venture capital funding. We argue that Vietnam could benefit from more policy learning on AI from other jurisdictions such as the European Union and China. Drawing on policy documents from these three jurisdictions, this paper aims to elucidate the core issues shaping the nation's AI development and governance strategies. Our findings shed light on the areas Vietnam should prioritise in order to propel itself into a significant role within the regional and international AI spheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fulfilment is a key driver for the digitalisation of the grocery sector and thus a major source of value creation. Although value creation is contingent on a multiplicity of contextual factors, extant research has mainly explored fulfilment in the generic realms of e-commerce and does not provide empirically grounded insights into the collective interplay of fulfilment attributes. Because e-grocery features unique exigencies and trade-offs that require non-generic theorisation, a functional and cross-domain perspective is required to comprehend the role of fulfilment in creating value in this sector. Following a multi-method approach, this paper combines a literature review with an empirical investigation of 111 e-grocers to produce three main outcomes. First, a conceptually-grounded and empirically-refined taxonomy to capture important decision attributes of e-grocery fulfilment. Second, six archetypes to indicate common combinations of these attributes. Third, a contingency model to disclose value relationships between attributes and outcome performance. Our results contribute to the body of knowledge on e-grocery value creation as well as the explanatory understanding of operational configurations and digital transformation conditions in this industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live streaming technologies transform the information processing of customers by changing the way they interact with and acquire information. However, this emerging technological artefact may induce both positive and negative consequences for customer decision making. It is yet unknown what constitutes the dimensions of the juxtaposed IT affordances and how they affect customer behaviours in this new social phenomenon. This paper contributes to IS research by uncovering the specific bright and dark sides of IT affordances in live streaming e-commerce and by explaining the cognitive mechanisms underpinning customer purchase and brand citizenship behaviours. We employed a sequential mixed-methods design to embrace and contextualise the theory of affordance, vicarious learning, and cognitive load to rigorously develop a theoretical framework of the juxtaposed IT affordance in live streaming e-commerce. The results indicate that positive affordances (e.g., interactivity, visibility, and entertainment) have stronger effects on both economic and non-economic value. However, the potential dark side (e.g., broadcasting and source diversity) has more negative effects on purchase intention than brand citizenship behaviour, underscoring the importance of involving customers in co-creating brand-related value in live streaming e-commerce. Our findings contribute considerably to the emerging literature on live streaming e-commerce and provide actionable recommendations for practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions have always been changing concurrently with larger societal developments. This paper addresses digital transformation in higher education (DTHE) during a disruptive crisis, e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding different perspectives on DTHE during the pandemic is important, as the meaning allocated to the unfolding events holds the potential to shape future decision making. We conducted a critical review of 22 academic papers published in the first year of the pandemic. A thematic analysis revealed divergent perspectives of how the pandemic was affecting DTHE, with the material pointing in the direction of the pandemic as an accelerator of ongoing changes in higher education. The papers unanimously understood DTHE as multi-dimensional and as an ongoing, long-time process entangled with digital transformations in other sectors already initiated before the pandemic. Although this review is limited to research carried out during the first year of the pandemic, further studies might address a longer time-period, by studying changes in higher education and research in consequence of a disruptive crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the distinct characteristics of China's digital economy during its rapid growth over the past decade and sheds light on the transformative impact that the digital economy has had on the Chinese society. The findings reveal that China's digital economy has experienced remarkable expansion in recent decades, driven by the convenience and efficiency it has brought about. Notable achievements include the development of robust digital infrastructure, the emergence of innovative digital finance, and the rapid growth of central bank digital currency. Throughout this digitalisation process, the government has played a pivotal role in driving and regulating the digital economy. Recognising the significance of digital transformation, the government has actively engaged in shaping policies and providing regulatory frameworks to foster a conducive environment for digital advancements and market regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital transformation is rapidly changing in-store service settings. This paper explores how frontline employees experience and cope with technology-related challenges. Based on a qualitative approach and the use of observations and interviews, this research advances our understanding of how such coping is performed in retail stores and how it contributes to defining employees' work experiences. The paper shows that employees engage in multiple coping practices; involving different forms of problem-solving, but also more proactive coping activities through which employees reconstruct their work. Moreover, the findings improve our understanding of how coping activities contribute to shaping retail work; thus illustrating how employees' in-store work practices are altered as they cope with new technology. The paper demonstrates that the organizational support that employees receive (e.g. available IT support, opportunities to learn from co-workers) is crucial to how technology-related coping is performed and experienced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides firm-level evidence on how subsidies to buyers of advanced digital production technologies work in sustaining private investments in innovation, and how such investments correlate with firms' demand for labor. By exploiting the introduction in 2017 of a fiscal incentive granted to all Italian companies purchasing tangible goods instrumental to their digital transformation, we are able to quantify the volume of the subsidized investments within the national economy, to correlate the decision to invest with ex-ante structural and strategic characteristics of the beneficiary firms, and to evaluate the labor market effects (hirings and separations) of these investments at the firm level, for different classes of workers and firms. Overall, the analysis suggests that the policy has been so far an effective means to support the advanced digital technology transformation of the Italian production system and that such transformation has been positively correlated with employment growth at investing firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a rising globalization of the economy and society, the digital transformation, and the economic downturn started in 2008, working is becoming less dependent on distance, location, and time. These are some of the reasons that have fostered the development and diffusion of new working spaces like coworking spaces. The paper aims at exploring the location determinants of coworking spaces, an issue that has been less developed by the literature up to now. By focusing on the 549 coworking spaces located in Italy at the year 2018, the paper investigates the location factors of such workplaces, and the attractiveness of large cities as well as peripheral areas. The results of the descriptive statistics and the econometric analysis (a Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial model is applied) confirm that coworking is mainly an urban phenomenon, since coworking spaces tend to be knowledge-intensive places for creative people. Specifically, the municipalities showing higher innovation and entrepreneurial environment (i.e. major cities) are preferred locations. Besides, it is discussed whether coworking spaces may contribute to fostering the development of peripheral and inner areas in Italy, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic where the share of teleworkers outside metropolitan areas has massively increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health organisations have adopted technologies since the 1960s, but only after the Industry 4.0 were such technologies systematized and organised under the H4.0 acronym. The pace at which digital information and communication applications have been developed in recent years challenge healthcare managers to choose assertively those with the largest potential impacts on their operations. In this paper, we propose using value stream mapping, a technique from the lean healthcare (LH) toolbox, to guide the choice of H4.0 digital applications that are more likely to support the improvement of value flows in healthcare organisations. We propose a three-step method, starting with mapping current and future value streams of the process under analysis, gathering data from team members on the indicated kaizen bursts and H4.0 digital applications, and finally assessing and ranking H4.0 digital applications that best support improvements and comply with attributes that characterise successful technological innovations. Our propositions are illustrated through a case study conducted in the sterilisation unit of a large public university hospital. Our findings indicate that three H4.0 digital applications should be prioritised to support the improvement of the value stream under analysis. Our method combines the simplicity of LH with more sophisticated solutions brought by H4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a structured literature review (SLR) on knowledge management (KM), digital transformation (DT), and Industry 4.0, defining these new research streams' interactions, ties, and interdependencies. Playing an essential role in a progressive discipline, our research summarises the state of the art of the past literature using rigorous methodological approach. The researchers adopt the Scopus database in their analysis and use the Bibliometrix R package. The analysis reveals 761 peer-reviewed English articles. The study shows several research clusters: KM and DT; KM and innovation ecosystems; KM and frontier technologies; and KM, decision-making, and Industry 4.0. Additionally, our paper contributes to identifying a flourishing field of research that has uncovered a previously unknown and exciting link between KM, DT, and the public sector. Finally, the article emphasises the crucial role of DT in KM development, addressing future research perspectives as quantitative and joint academics and practitioners' analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with low or no digital literacy may not receive the digital transformation benefits. There are no-cost digital literacy programs to address this gap, whose outcomes need to be studied. Using survey data of 6989 unemployed females living below the poverty line in India, the present paper examines the linkage between the digital skills training program and empowerment. Economic empowerment measured through employment, education and entrepreneurship-seeking behavior, and psychological empowerment are studied. It also assesses the moderating role of perceived value derived from the training and the mediating role of actual skill usage in understanding the linkage. Results show that the moderating role of perceived value is important for economic empowerment and the mediating role of actual usage of learned digital skills is relevant for psychological empowerment. The paper contributes to the ICTD domain by highlighting that digital literacy training may lead to empowerment for poor women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2021 Stavå bridge, a main bridge on E6 in Norway, was abruptly closed for traffic. A structural defect had seriously compromised the bridge's structural integrity. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) closed it, made a temporary solution and reopened with severe traffic restrictions. The incident was alerted through what constitutes the bridge's Digital Twin processing data from Internet of Things sensors. The solution was crucial in online and offline diagnostics, the case demonstrating the value of technologies to tackle emerging dangerous situations as well as acting preventively. A critical and rapidly developing damage was detected in time to stop the development, but not in time to avoid the incident altogether. The paper puts risk in a broader perspective for an organization responsible for highway infrastructure. It positions online monitoring and Digital Twins in the context of Risk- and Condition-Based Maintenance. The situation that arose at Stavå bridge, and how it was detected, analysed, and diagnosed during virtual inspection, is described. The case demonstrates how combining physics-based methods with Machine Learning can facilitate damage detection and diagnostics. A summary of lessons learnt, both from technical and organisational perspectives, as well as plans of future work, is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global digital divide is sometime presented as the primary obstacle to developmental convergence between world regions. On the other hand mobile phone and internet technology are at times seen as transformative innovations that are dissolving this development divide. Through secondary data (such as on usage from Internet World Stats) and case exemplars, of mobile money and the gig economy, this paper argues that this is not the case; primarily because new information and communication technologies are used mostly for communication and consumption, rather than production, and if they are value capture is often low. Consequently the ‘digital divide’, and its partial dissolution, are perhaps better characterized as phases of an ‘ICT product consumption diffusion cycle’, facilitated by technological embedding and convergence. The paper provides background and substantiates this argument and then explores the potential for a deep digital transformation (DDT) in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a digital transformation maturity self-assessment model. The main objective of this model is the diagnosis and the evaluation of the digital maturity of a hospital as a key main in the Moroccan pharmaceutical supply chain. A literature review was conducted for investigating digital maturity models and tools used. A total of 49 relevant works were retrieved, representing 49 distinct maturity models and tools in various domains. The works were inductively analysed, and the maturity model dimensions were extracted and consolidated into a Digital Maturity Assessment Model (DMAM). The resulting DMAM consisted of 4 dimensions: IT & Digital Technologies, Strategy & Processes Management, Human Resources & Culture, and Supply Chain & Patient Journeys Management. Each dimension is further divided into several sub-dimensions, totally 65 sub-dimensions are identified, that can be assessed by the 4 digital maturity levels proposed. The comparison of the proposed digital maturity dimensions and sub-dimensions with the existing models/tools shows a clear and important contribution in the field of digital transformation assessment: the introduction of a new dimension 'Supply Chain and Patient Management', that was developed in response to practitioner needs and organizational factors in pharmaceutical supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation serves as a crucial foundation for enterprises to achieve business and trade digitisation, as well as to drive industrial upgrading and high-quality economic development. This paper explores the impact and mechanism of the ‘Specialized and New’ policy on enterprise digital transformation, utilising the policy established in 2019 as a quasi-natural experiment and leveraging data from China’s A-share listed companies between 2017 and 2021. We employ difference-in-differences model to investigate the effects and underlying mechanisms of the ‘Specialized and New’ policy on digital transformation. Our results demonstrate that the ‘Specialized and New’ policy significantly promotes the process of enterprise digital transformation. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the policy has a more pronounced effect on the digital transformation of non-state-owned enterprises, medium-sized enterprises, and enterprises with high management efficiency. In-depth mechanistic tests reveal that the ‘Specialized and New’ policy facilitates digital transformation through three pathways: enhancing research and development capabilities, introducing government subsidies, and reducing financing constraints. The policy is relatively new and less well researched, so the findings of this paper provide valuable insights and lessons for domestic and foreign policymakers, which can help in the replication of subsequent policies as well as the development and transformation of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unfolding of the digital transformation, often associated with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has been attracting increasing attention in diverse academic disciplines. The related research has already populated several special issues that represent important guideposts for future studies on the topic. However, a paper collection with an 'Industry and Innovation' perspective, dealing with how firms behave, innovate, and perform in the new industrial paradigm, is still missing. This special issue aims to fill this gap. The six research articles investigate how firms face digital transformation from three different angles, looking at its determinants, the patterns of its unfolding, and its techno-economic effects. The variety of the theoretical backgrounds, data sources, and empirical methodologies, along with the originality and managerial/policy relevance of their results, make the special issue a privileged point of view to investigate the new industrial paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the post-industrial period, traditional Chinese enterprises are facing the awkward situation of being 'big but not strong', with their core technologies being controlled by others. The digital transformation of enterprises has not only reshaped business models and industrial boundaries, but also boosted the high-quality development of China's economy. This paper reviews the existing literature and discovers that digital technology promotes enterprise production efficiency through cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and innovation. Based on the data of listed manufacturing companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2009 to 2017, this paper constructs a differences in differences (DID) model to empirically study the relationship between digital transformation and production efficiency. The results revealed that the implementation of digital transformation plays a significant role in promoting economic benefits and the results of the lag regression method are still robust. Based on this, combined with the actual situation of Chinese enterprises, this paper proposes countermeasures and suggestions to promote the development of enterprise digital transformation. The conclusion is of great significance for Chinese enterprises to occupy a dominant position in the new wave of global industrial revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the digital transformation impacts many sectors of the economy, actors in the construction industry—and more specifically in megaproject initiatives—have to adapt to new technologies and processes. Megaprojects are commonly undertaken to build essential infrastructures such as roads, dams, buildings, or even smart cities or districts, and usually involve complex and hybrid organizational forms. Moreover, digitalization transforms megaprojects, presenting megaproject teams with opportunities, but also challenges. This conceptual paper explores the characteristics of heterarchical megaproject ecologies in order to identify ways to address the impacts of the current digital transformation. Our aim is to analyze how a heterarchical form of governance contributes to transforming the management of innovation. While heterarchies can lead to severe dysfunctions, we propose strategies to manage them, paying specific attention to the governance of a common-pool-resource scenario, network roles, knowledge articulation and learning. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a renewed conceptualization of megaproject governance and to propose a conceptual framework that can be used to study the management of innovation in empirical megaproject settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, stems from the rapid advancement of digital technologies such as the Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Production Systems. It has the potential to weave positive changes to firms and impact organizational structure layers. Therefore, it provides an impetus for the collaboration of factories, suppliers, and customers. Nevertheless, due to the difference of Industry 4.0 vision among companies, there is a lack of unified perception and approach of its implementation roadmap. Therefore, many firms in both developed and developing countries that step in the way of digital transformation encounter not only organizational, technological, and operational challenges but are also compelled to cope with a large deal of confusion. Hence, this paper aims to identify the main concepts, characteristics, and technology enablers related to Industry 4.0 to provide stakeholders with a clear understanding of this paradigm. It then clusters and matches the derived concepts and characteristics associated with Industry 4.0. Further, the paper provides an analysis of how these clusters are supported by technology enablers of Industry 4.0, as well as managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key aspects of digitalization brought by Industry 4.0 is driven by the Internet of Things. Perhaps, the most interesting component of digital transformation is Augmented Reality. Augmented reality is merging the digital and physical worlds in the same experience. This new technology is accepted and applications are initiated in various areas including manufacturing. The main usage area in manufacturing is planning, execution, and verification of the assembly and maintenance operations. Likewise, augmented reality is used in the training of inexperienced people and to guide them by remote expert support. However, the augmented reality application selection, especially for non-technology savvy manufacturing organizations is challenging. Detailed and time-consuming analyses are required to understand the key features to compare and select the most suitable augmented reality application. In this paper, the most critical nine augmented reality software selection criteria are identified. To help organizations to apply such criteria and make a selection that is most suitable for the enterprise, a multi criteria decision-making approach is suggested. The suggested method is based on a fuzzy spherical number. The complex proportional assessment method is used to calculate the rankings. Therefore, the suggested method is called SF-COPRAS. Moreover, the detailed definition of augmented reality features and terminologies is explained. Several augmented reality use-case scenarios are discussed for manufacturing organizations on their Industry 4.0 initiatives. This paper aims to guide decision makers on their augmented reality software selection journey. The offered framework aims to save time for investigating augmented reality solution features systematically and objectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) is continually striving to use resources efficiently and manage complex processes. Now more than ever, there is a strong need for digital transformation in AEC. The improvement in the accessibility of consumer-based head-mounted displays (HMD) is attracting different entertainment and research fields to immersive virtual reality (VR) applications. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is known as a promising technology in AEC. The full potential of BIM is not yet employed to empower this field, however, and this could be a result of some barriers still to be surmounted by BIM in both technological and management perspectives. One of these barriers is the communication and collaboration between design, construction, operation, and maintenance phases. VR can fill this gap by providing additional capabilities for BIM which either were not available before or were not possible to employ in practical ways. In this paper, we systematically review recent research around the application of VR in BIM and discuss the results using the PRISMA flowchart. We discuss the most commonly used technologies, software, and evaluation methods and the various applications of VR in the reviewed papers. Finally, we extend the discussion by summarizing the potential future work in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation driven by artificial intelligence (AI) allows Industry 4.0 and the internet of things (IIoT) to make significant advancements in automating, controlling, and improving the quality of numerous manufacturing processes. Three-dimensional (3D) surface topography of manufactured products holds important information about the quality of manufacturing processes. Surface topography consists of unique properties, which makes the current monitoring approaches ineffective in identifying local and spatial surface faults. In this paper, we develop a generalised spatially weighted autocorrelation approach based on AI for monitoring changes in products based on their 3D topographic surfaces. We propose two effective algorithms to identify and assign spatial weights to the topographic regions with suspicious characteristics. The normal surface hard thresholding algorithm initially enhances the representation of surface characteristics through binarization, followed by the normal surface connected-component labelling algorithm, which utilises the obtained binary results to identify and assign spatial weights to the suspicious regions. We then introduce a generalised spatially weighted Moran index, which exploits the assigned weights to locally characterise and monitor changes in the spatial autocorrelation structure of identified regions. After an anomaly surface is detected, we extract different fault diagnostic information. The proposed approach proves its robustness and efficiency in characterising, monitoring, and diagnosing different patterns of faults in 3D topographic surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is motivated by the Time Capsule Project (TCP) of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). The historical developments of geotechnical risk and reliability are reviewed for the past six decades. The key features distinguishing geotechnical and structural engineering are the natural origin of the ground and the lack of sufficient data to characterize the ground using the more familiar frequentist interpretation of probability. For the first feature, random field theory is applied to model spatial variability and the random finite element method or other methods are proposed for solving soil-structure interaction problems in spatially variable soil. For the second feature, compilation of databases is essential to serve as priors for Bayesian updating and more recently for Bayesian machine learning. There is a gradual evolution towards reliability-based design because probabilistic methods offer a pathway to address big data and implement data-centric geotechnics as one step towards digital transformation. Given the complexity of the natural ground (known unknowns can be large and there are unknown unknowns), engineering judgment remains important to bridge the gap between theory and practice. However, the role of engineering judgment needs to be updated as modern machine learning methods become more powerful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation has become an inevitable choice for tourism companies to improve the resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper focuses on the influence of digital transformation on the resilience of tourism companies and clarifies the important role of digital transformation in enhancing the sustainability of tourism companies. Based on the data from Chinese tourism-listed companies, it is found that digital transformation can mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corporate resilience. Heterogeneity tests indicate that digital transformation has positive effects on resilience for both eastern and non-state companies, and the resilience of large-, small-, and medium-sized companies benefit from digital transformation. Influence mechanism tests show that digital transformation can strengthen the resilience of tourism companies by increasing organizational flexibility, enhancing sustainable operation capability and shaping competitive advantage. The conclusions are of reference value for decision-making on the use of digital technology to enhance risk resistance by tourism companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]