TY - JOUR

T1 - Digitisation and Sustainable Development

T2 - The Opportunities and Risks of Using Digital Technologies for the Implementation of a Circular Economy

AU - Kottmeyer, Benjamin

PY - 2021/1/1

Y1 - 2021/1/1

N2 - Digitisation is developing a transformational potential that is profoundly changing people, our societies and the planet. Like any major societal transformation, it offers both, significant opportunities for progress and significant risks with harmful consequences for societies. This paper, therefore, addresses the question: ‘What are the critical social outcomes and concerns flowing from the advances in digitisation on our work environment?’ To discuss the broad research question in sufficient depth, this paper focuses not only on specific critical social outcomes of digitisation but also on how some of them can be mitigated by combining digital tools with the concept of a circular economy (representing the abstract idea of sustainable development). The implementation of blockchain technologies and new business models shows that digital technologies have the potential to close the realisation gap between theory and practice of the circular economy concept by enhancing the information flow and the communication between stakeholders in the value chain. Nonetheless, the implementation of these technologies also entails social and economic risks, such as power abuse or regulatory arbitrage, which should be considered in advance. To avoid jeopardising digital innovations, future research should therefore develop a more holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of the complex interactions to exploit the potential of digitisation for social progress.

AB - Digitisation is developing a transformational potential that is profoundly changing people, our societies and the planet. Like any major societal transformation, it offers both, significant opportunities for progress and significant risks with harmful consequences for societies. This paper, therefore, addresses the question: ‘What are the critical social outcomes and concerns flowing from the advances in digitisation on our work environment?’ To discuss the broad research question in sufficient depth, this paper focuses not only on specific critical social outcomes of digitisation but also on how some of them can be mitigated by combining digital tools with the concept of a circular economy (representing the abstract idea of sustainable development). The implementation of blockchain technologies and new business models shows that digital technologies have the potential to close the realisation gap between theory and practice of the circular economy concept by enhancing the information flow and the communication between stakeholders in the value chain. Nonetheless, the implementation of these technologies also entails social and economic risks, such as power abuse or regulatory arbitrage, which should be considered in advance. To avoid jeopardising digital innovations, future research should therefore develop a more holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of the complex interactions to exploit the potential of digitisation for social progress.

KW - blockchain technology

KW - business model

KW - circular economy

KW - Digitisation

KW - sustainable development

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122542692&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/2393957520967799

DO - 10.1177/2393957520967799

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85122542692

VL - 7

SP - 17

EP - 23

JO - Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies

JF - Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies

SN - 2393-9575

IS - 1

ER -