Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability seeks original manuscripts for a Special Issue on “Post-Industrial Design toward Sustainability Development Goals: Techno-Socio-Economic Development Models for Global Society in the Era of Digital Transformation”, scheduled for publication in 2021 and with a submission deadline of November 30, 2021.

According to Bell (1974), the Post-Industrial Society is dominated by the service sectors and professional and technical occupations. It is marked by the centrality of human relationships and “intellectual technology”, based on information and information and communications technology (ICT), which “rises alongside of machine technology”. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on top of digital technologies being characterized as “a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres” (Schwab, 2016). The first attempt to explain complexity of post-industrial economy came from Buchanan (2001), that introduced the “four orders of design” model where design is about “the human power of conceiving, planning, and making products that serve human beings in the accomplishment of their individual and collective purposes”. While the “product” is the formal outcome of the design process, it typically connotes a physical object; it is understood as the outcome of an industrial design process. Buchanan argues that this limited meaning is being increasingly challenged as four orders of design have emerged. The first and second orders emerged in the first half of the twentieth century: while graphic design deals with the nature, shape, and meaning of symbols and consists of four distinct but related activities: typography, illustration, photography, and print, industrial design is concerned with tangible, physical artifacts and, therefore, with things. The third and fourth orders focus on designing experiences rather than physical objects. While starting out as a response to the need to design IT systems for and with the users, it has, over time, been paying increasingly specific attention to user experience. Finally, environmental design is concerned with “the idea or thought that organizes a system or environment” and, therefore, in the fourth order, the focus is on human systems, the integration of information, physical artifacts, and the interactions of living, working, playing, and learning in environments.

Accordingly, we welcome papers aimed at analyzing and exploring how digital technologies are shaping the paradigms of production and business models, taking into account the needs of consumers as well of the social and environmental ecosystems. Contribution can focus either on technological, social, or economic issues while always considering them from the different perspectives of Sustainability Development Goals.

Topics can include (but are not limited to):

• smart cities and smart territories
• immersive technologies for design and production
• artificial intelligence for smart design
• technology ventures and innovative production and business models
• artificial intelligence and co-creation
• digital factories
• big data and production processes
• technology enhanced learning
• sustainable fintech and insurtech
• socio-economic impact assessment models of technological innovation
• implementation strategies and roadmaps

Authors are invited to submit original work to this Special Issue of Sustainability, but may also choose to submit to the 18th conference of the Italian Chapter of AIS (Association for Information Systems – www.aisnet.org) that will take place at University of Trento, Department of Economics and Management, on October 15–16, 2021, given that it has not been previously published nor is under consideration for publication by other journals. Initial submissions should follow the guidelines outlined for the ItAIS conference. Selected conference authors will be invited to submit a full paper version to Sustainability.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the Guest Editors.

References

Aleshkovski, I., Bondarenko, V., & Ilyin, I. (2020). Global values, digital transformation and development strategy for global society: Conceptual framework. International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy. https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJFIP.2020.111243

Bell, D. (1974) The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting, London: Heinemann Buchanan, R. (2001). Design Research and the New Learning. Design Issues, 17(Number 4)

Fällman, D,. (2008). The Interaction Design Research Triangle of Design Practice, Design Studies, and Design Exploration. Design Issues 24, 4-18.

García Ferrari, T. (2017). Design and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Dangers and opportunities for a mutating discipline. The Design Journal, 20(sup1), S2625–S2633. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1080/14606925.2017.1352774

García Ferrari—2017—Design and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Dange.pdf. (s.d.). Recuperato 9 gennaio

Ivanova, I., Smorodinskaya, N., & Leydesdorff, L. (2020). On measuring complexity in a post-industrial economy: The ecosystem’s approach. Quality & Quantity, 54(1), 197–212. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s11135-019-00844-2

Nylén, D., Holmström, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2014). Oscillating Between Four Orders of Design: The Case of Digital Magazines. Design Issues, 30(3), 53–68. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1162/DESI_a_00278

Nylén et al. - 2014—Oscillating Between Four Orders of Design The Cas.pdf. (s.d.). Recuperato 10 gennaio 2021, da https://0-www-mitpressjournals-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1162/DESI_a_00278

Prof. Dr. Fabrizio D’Ascenzo
Dr. Francesco Bellini
Prof. Alina Mihaela Dima
Dr. Marina Utevskaia
Guest Editors

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.

• Sustainability Development Goals
• resilient ecosystems
• blue economy
• green economy
• digital transformation
• production
• co-creation
• inclusion
• design