Industry 4.0 and Sustainable Development Goals: a review in the context of emerging economies

Md. Nafizur Rahman, Md. Mizanur Rahman, Aidin Salamzadeh and Léo-Paul Dana

Chapter 12 in Handbook of Grand Challenges in Global Production and Innovation Networks, 2025, pp 241-252 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: As stated in the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 objectives for the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs aim to alleviate poverty, safeguard the environment, and improve global peace. These goals stress economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability that can only be realized holistically with technological advancements. Academics and policymakers have recently highlighted that Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies are crucial technical catalysts for attaining the SDGs. Extant literature indicates that I4.0 technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of firms’ production, resulting in superior sustainability performance. Literature reveals that the linkage between I4.0 technologies and SDGs is indirect, mediated, and moderated by multiple factors. This study employs an introductory review approach to determine the factors underlying the interplay between I4.0 technology adoption and sustainability in an emerging economy context. Our review reveals that I4.0 technologies promote the transition to a circular economy business model (CEBM) and enhance businesses’ sustainable production, green innovation, and sustainability performance in emerging economies. The extensive literature review revealed that digitalization knowledge and expertise, absorptive capacity, technical abilities, resource availability, top management commitment, organizational culture, transformational leadership, external partnership and collaboration, value chain readiness, national culture, and regional variances, and government assistance are the critical success factors for implementing I4.0 for sustainability in emerging economies. Based on these findings, we advocate for extensive empirical studies to uncover the various technological drivers of sustainability and their internal mechanisms to broaden our understanding of this topic.

Keywords: Emerging economies; The fourth industrial revolution; Industry 4.0 technologies; Sustainable goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035346509
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