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Fourth Revolution and Sustainability
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Fourth Revolution and Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2022) | Viewed by 21077

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Nir Kshetri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Management, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Interests: e-business; management; entrepreneurship
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Radical innovations and technologies have brought about a fundamental shift in the global economy. This phenomenon, which is commonly referred to as the Fourth Revolution (4R), or other roughly interchangeable terms such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and Industry 4.0, can be attributed to disruptive technologies such as 3D printing, fifth-generation (5G) telecoms, augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles, biotechnology, blockchain, big data, genome editing, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, quantum computing, remote sensing (satellite imagery and drones), robotics (including collaborative robots or co-bots), and wearables. The confluence and convergence of technologies related to the 4R have made it possible to take actions and make decisions that can have a profound impact on sustainability-related practices of governments, businesses, and consumers.

In recent years, an increasing number of researchers have started to explore how 4R technologies such as AI (e.g., Vinuesa et al., 2020).), biotechnology (Thomson, 2008), and blockchain can affect the sustainability-related practices of firms, consumers and governments. However, 4R technologies are relatively new and rapidly developing. New research is thus needed to understand the 4R-led changes in sustainability-related behaviors of organizations and individuals. Moreover, the combination of different 4R technologies can have especially broader and more powerful impacts on environmental and societal sustainability. In little research have scholars examined how different 4R technologies can be combined to have an amplified impact on sustainability. This Special Issue aims to fill these gaps and to widen and deepen our understanding of how sustainability is likely to be affected by radical innovations.

References

Kshetri, Nir (2018). Blockchain’s Roles in Meeting Key Supply Chain Management Objectives, International Journal of Information Management 39, 80–89.

Kshetri, Nir (2020). Blockchain’s potential impacts on supply chain sustainability in developing countries, Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings 2020, 7–11 August.

Thomson J.A. (2008). The role of biotechnology for agricultural sustainability in Africa. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 363: 905–913.

Vinuesa, R. et al., (2020). The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, Nature Communications 233, https://0-www-nature-com.brum.beds.ac.uk/articles/s41467-019-14108-y.

Prof. Dr. Nir Kshetri
Guest Editor

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

  • fourth revolution
  • artificial intelligence
  • blockchain
  • satellite imagery

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2410 KiB  
Article
Forecasting Biocapacity and Ecological Footprint at a Worldwide Level to 2030 Using Neural Networks
by María Andreína Moros-Ochoa, Gilmer Yovani Castro-Nieto, Anderson Quintero-Español and Carolina Llorente-Portillo
Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10691; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141710691 - 27 Aug 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1977
Abstract
Constant environmental deterioration is a problem widely addressed by multiple international organizations. However, given the current economic and technological limitations, alternatives that immediately and significantly impact environmental degradation negatively affect contemporary development and lifestyle. Because of this, rather than limiting population consumption patterns [...] Read more.
Constant environmental deterioration is a problem widely addressed by multiple international organizations. However, given the current economic and technological limitations, alternatives that immediately and significantly impact environmental degradation negatively affect contemporary development and lifestyle. Because of this, rather than limiting population consumption patterns or developing sophisticated and highly expensive technologies, the solution to environmental degradation lies more in the progressive transformation of production and consumption patterns. Thus, to support this change, the objective of this article is to forecast the behavior of consumption and regeneration of biologically productive land until the year 2030, using a deep neural network adjusted to Global Footprint Network data for prediction, and to provide information that favors the development of local economic strategies based on the territorial strengths and weaknesses of each continent. The most relevant findings about biocapacity and ecological footprint data are: fishing grounds have the great renewable potential in the global consumption of products and focused on the Asian region being approximately 55% of the world’s ecological footprint; grazinglands indicate an exponential growth in terms of ecological footprint, however South America and Africa have almost 55% of the distribution in the world biocapacity, being great powers in the generation of agricultural products; forest lands show a decrease in biocapacity, there is a progressive and exponential deterioration of forest resources, the highest deficit in the world is generated in Asia; cropland presents an environmental balance between biocapacity and ecological footprint; and builtland generates great impacts on development and regeneration in other lands, indicating the exponential crisis that could eventually be established by needing more and more resources from large built metropolises to replace the natural life provided by other lands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fourth Revolution and Sustainability)
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16 pages, 441 KiB  
Article
The Innovation of the Cashierless Store: A Preliminary Analysis in Italy
by Patrizia Gazzola, Daniele Grechi, Ilaria Martinelli and Roberta Pezzetti
Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2034; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14042034 - 11 Feb 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6053
Abstract
The retail sector, under the pressure of digitalization and technological innovation, has experienced profound changes in the last decade, and retailers have had to cope with these changes by implementing new business models and competitive strategies with the aim of satisfying the consumers’ [...] Read more.
The retail sector, under the pressure of digitalization and technological innovation, has experienced profound changes in the last decade, and retailers have had to cope with these changes by implementing new business models and competitive strategies with the aim of satisfying the consumers’ needs. In the last few decades, the sector has been affected by different new trends, from the birth of supermarkets to the advent of e-commerce, up to the introduction of cashierless stores. The latter represents a new category of store that is totally computer-based and digitalized, in which the use of cameras, sensors and self-shelves minimizes human interaction. Amazon pioneered this emerging concept, with the launch of Amazon Go, but other start-up companies are rapidly entering the cashierless retail market and embracing the challenge. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the knowledge of Italian consumers of cashierless shops, and the relevance of different factors related to this new kind of shops. A questionnaire was sent to a sample of more than 1000 consumers to identify and evaluate the actual situation and knowledge of this phenomenon, which is not yet diffuse in Italy. A statistical analysis, regarding both their knowledge about cashierless stores and the customer experience, is provided to discuss the most relevant factors affecting the customers’ perceptions and attitudes, with a comparison per gender and type of users. The results of the provided analysis reveal that the phenomenon is very little known, and this is certainly influenced by the lack of these stores in Italy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fourth Revolution and Sustainability)
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16 pages, 1194 KiB  
Article
Application of Machine Learning Techniques in Injection Molding Quality Prediction: Implications on Sustainable Manufacturing Industry
by Hail Jung, Jinsu Jeon, Dahui Choi and Jung-Ywn Park
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4120; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13084120 - 07 Apr 2021
Cited by 58 | Viewed by 6452
Abstract
With sustainable growth highlighted as a key to success in Industry 4.0, manufacturing companies attempt to optimize production efficiency. In this study, we investigated whether machine learning has explanatory power for quality prediction problems in the injection molding industry. One concern in the [...] Read more.
With sustainable growth highlighted as a key to success in Industry 4.0, manufacturing companies attempt to optimize production efficiency. In this study, we investigated whether machine learning has explanatory power for quality prediction problems in the injection molding industry. One concern in the injection molding industry is how to predict, and what affects, the quality of the molding products. While this is a large concern, prior studies have not yet examined such issues especially using machine learning techniques. The objective of this article, therefore, is to utilize several machine learning algorithms to test and compare their performances in quality prediction. Using several machine learning algorithms such as tree-based algorithms, regression-based algorithms, and autoencoder, we confirmed that machine learning models capture the complex relationship and that autoencoder outperforms comparing accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. Feature importance tests also revealed that temperature and time are influential factors that affect the quality. These findings have strong implications for enhancing sustainability in the injection molding industry. Sustainable management in Industry 4.0 requires adapting artificial intelligence techniques. In this manner, this article may be helpful for businesses that are considering the significance of machine learning algorithms in their manufacturing processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fourth Revolution and Sustainability)
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Review

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28 pages, 11490 KiB  
Review
Striding towards Sustainability: A Framework to Overcome Challenges and Explore Opportunities through Industry 4.0
by José Salvador da Motta Reis, Maximilian Espuny, Thaís Vieira Nunhes, Nilo Antonio de Souza Sampaio, Raine Isaksson, Fernando Celso de Campos and Otávio José de Oliveira
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5232; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13095232 - 07 May 2021
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 5650
Abstract
Sustainability 4.0 (S4.0) enables sustainable development through intelligent technologies to meet economic, environmental and social demands. The main objective of this article is to propose a framework for developing S4.0 in sectors of Triple Helix (TH) (Government, Organizations and Academy). The framework consists [...] Read more.
Sustainability 4.0 (S4.0) enables sustainable development through intelligent technologies to meet economic, environmental and social demands. The main objective of this article is to propose a framework for developing S4.0 in sectors of Triple Helix (TH) (Government, Organizations and Academy). The framework consists of benchmarking of policies and initiatives from the Science-Technology Scenario in S4.0 (STS-S4.0) and the author’s experience. The STS-4.0 is a snapshot of relevant initiatives from the countries that performed best in science and technology in S4.0. This work uses the methods of bibliometric studies and content analysis of scientific articles from the Scopus database and patents publications from the Orbit database. This research resulted in a total of 19 propositions for developing sustainability through I4.0. Of these, eight are for Government, six for Organizations and five for Academy. The main scientific contribution of this work is to expand and deepen the recent block of knowledge on S4.0. As for the applied contribution, this work contributes to the conscious and sustainable development of humanity through the technological elements of I4.0, contributing to the achievement of the following SDGs proposed by the UN: 9 (Industries, Innovation and Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 13 (Climate Action). The main novelty of this article is the creation of paths for Government, Organizations and Academy to interactively lead the development of global sustainability through the smart technologies of I4.0. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fourth Revolution and Sustainability)
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