A Systematic Literature Review that analyzed 61 primary studies selected from 126 initial records reveals a clear association between cost reduction and increased productivity within the economic dimension; waste reduction reflects progress in the environmental dimension; and the improvement of quality and value delivered to stakeholders aligns with the social dimension.
Abstract
Digital transformation represents a fundamental opportunity for organizations to incorporate sustainability criteria into their strategic decisions. In this context, IT governance and management frameworks—such as COBIT, ITIL, CMMI, and Six Sigma—provide structures to guide technology projects aligned with economic, environmental, and social objectives. This article presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) that analyzed 61 primary studies selected from 126 initial records. The research work was based on the Kitchenham methodology and the PRISMA 2020 statement; to identify how these technological governance and management frameworks act as facilitators in the adoption of sustainability indicators under GRI Standards. The results reveal a clear association between cost reduction and increased productivity within the economic dimension; waste reduction reflects progress in the environmental dimension; and the improvement of quality and value delivered to stakeholders aligns with the social dimension. In conclusion, sustainability is not an abstract concept, but a measurable result of mature process management; which allows organizations to make informed strategic decisions and communicate their performance in a comprehensive manner.
A systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines, this study analyzes Scopus-indexed papers published from 2020 to 2026 in order to shed light on how digital transformation enables sustainability-oriented outcomes and whether these contributions seem rooted in organizational change rather than represent aspirational disclosures of sustainability-related information. In the initial search phase, a total of 1,208 records were identified; after screening, retrieval and eligibility assessment of these studies from both electronic databases and hand-searching, just 78 studies were included in the final synthesis. Our findings show that digital transformation drives sustainability in six main avenues—namely ESG governance, eco-innovation, decarbonization, circular economy practices, digital maturity and social sustainability. However, with digital transformation being identified as sustainability by other means, without appropriate organizational capabilities and data governance that include adequate data and analytics support for innovation routines, regulatory pressures and strategic decision-making processes to be adopted together at scale across an organization because they are complementary. Also, the review suggests that by relying heavily on a style of quantitative testing based on looking for associations between concepts in datasets empirically available, research suffers from conceptual inconsistencies and uneven coverage across empirical contexts. The review presents a new conceptualization for digital transformation as an enabler of sustainability, which comes with execution conditions and identifies future research agendas to distinguish genuine sustainability effects from the simple prominence of sustainability.
I. Suteja, Purwanto Purwanto, Felix Siswanto· Eduvest - Journal Of Univers...· 0 citations
This study explores how the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems influences Environment, Society, and Governance (ESG) development within a regional organization in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand. Using a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews, direct observation, and document analysis, and analyzed using thematic and matrix coding in NVivo. The results revealed that AI and ERP systems enhanced operational transparency, accountability, and efficiency through data centralization and process automation. Notably, digital adoption improved environmental monitoring, employee collaboration, and governance compliance, aligning technological transformation with sustainability outcomes. Leadership commitment and employee empowerment were identified as key mediators driving positive organizational culture and acceptance of digital systems. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of digital transformation by demonstrating how AI and ERP systems can advance ESG principles in regional enterprises. The findings offer practical implications for policymakers and managers seeking to promote sustainable digital transformation in developing economies.
Mahatthakorn Plensamai· Journal of Science and Techn...· 0 citations
By promoting healthier digital practices, organisations can improve employee well-being and effectively use digital tools, ultimately enhancing competitiveness in a dynamic landscape.
Dilek Şahin Yomralıoğlu, Beyza Toksoy· Istanbul Journal of Economic...· 0 citations
Driven by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and digital transformation, digital governance of megaprojects has become a key means of advancing sustainability objectives. However, the existing scholarship lacks a holistic understanding of digital governance in megaprojects, and the sustainability-oriented research landscape has yet to be systematically mapped. This study takes the Web of Science Core Collection as the primary data source, complemented by citation tracking, to identify and screen 127 publications published between 2016 and 5 March 2026. Bibliometric analysis is employed to delineate the developmental characteristics and research hotspots of the field. Subsequently, a theoretical analytical framework—Megaproject Sustainable Digital Governance (MSDG)—is constructed, integrating three core dimensions: the project lifecycle, sustainability, and digital governance. Guided by this framework, a coding scheme is developed for the content analysis of the 127 selected papers. The findings reveal that digital technology governance permeates the entire project lifecycle and garners the most scholarly attention, whereas digital derivatives governance is conspicuously understudied across all lifecycle stages. In terms of sustainability, the economic dimension dominates the discourse, while environmental issues are insufficiently represented. This paper aims to map the full landscape of lifecycle-oriented research on sustainable digital governance of megaprojects and proposes two future research agendas to facilitate the transition toward sustainable digital governance.
Li Yu, Chen Li, Yonghong Chen· Applied Sciences· 0 citations
While digital transformation is a primary catalyst for change in the public sector, achieving positive outcomes requires continuous governance innovation and strategic alignment between public managers and their authorizing environments. However, current models of IT-enabled value creation generally fail to account for the deeply political mandates, inter-organizational coordination challenges, and legitimacy requirements inherent to digital government, and do not sufficiently theorize the strategic proactivity of managers navigating complex authorizing environments. To address this theoretical gap, this paper proposes a novel value-alignment model for IT-enabled public innovation, drawing upon Moore’s public value framework and integrating Venkatraman’s strategic orientation construct. The model is developed through an abductive theory-building design combining a literature review, exploratory interviews with e-government professionals, and secondary survey data on digital readiness across public sector organizations. The resulting framework posits three core relationships: public value alignment drives operational capacity, political legitimacy ensures resource sustainability, and strategic proactivity directly generates public value creation. By providing a robust theoretical architecture grounded in rigorous construct development, this paper contributes a new conceptual lens for understanding how strategic alignment and political legitimacy interact to foster governance innovation in inter-organizational networks. The proposed model establishes the necessary theoretical foundation for future empirical validation, with subsequent research aiming to test these constructs and their relationships through formal exploratory factor analysis and a comprehensive, pan-European, large-n survey study.
Illugi T. Hjaltalín· EGOV-CeDEM-ePart 2026· 0 citations
The transition towards Circular Economy (CE) models has intensified the demand for unified measurement systems that integrate sustainability, policy, and corporate reporting. Existing CE tools—such as Circulytics, CTI, and MCI—primarily address environmental efficiency, while social and governance aspects remain underrepresented, limiting comparability and strategic integration. This study develops the Model of Standardised Circularity (MSC), a framework of 44 harmonised indicators derived from the systematic analysis of six internationally recognised CE tools. The MSC aligns environmental, economic, and social indicators with the Circular Economy Goals (CEGs), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), establishing a coherent structure for assessing CE implementation. It introduces maturity levels and value-chain perspectives to enhance applicability across diverse sectors and organisational stages. By embedding social and innovation-related metrics, the framework connects circularity with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies. Results indicate that the MSC achieves 70% coverage of key CE impact areas—outperforming existing tools—and enables consistent reporting and benchmarking. The model therefore provides both theoretical and practical contributions, positioning circularity as a measurable dimension of corporate sustainability and supporting data-driven progress toward the SDGs.
Juan Manuel Valverde-Izquierdo, C. Avilés-Palacios· International Journal of Pro...· 0 citations