Sustainable and Human-Centric Management in the Era of Polycrisis
DETAILS
CALL FOR PAPERS
Sustainable and Human-Centric Management in the Era of Polycrisis
Journal: Technology in Society
Publisher: Elsevier
Submission Opens: 28 February 2026
Submission Deadline: 15 December 2026
Introduction
As digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to revolutionize industries and societies, the need for sustainable and human-centric management has become more critical than ever. This Special Issue fosters research and practice on innovative strategies for integrating digital technologies while ensuring that ethical, environmental, and societal considerations remain at the core of management.
Contemporary organizations operate in an era of polycrisis — characterized by:
Societal grand challenges and geopolitical turbulence
Climate crisis and environmental complexity
Rapid technological change and AI advancements
Political polarization and social fragmentation
Examples of polycrisis driven by AI include sustainability and energy challenges — as AI significantly increases power consumption, threatening environmental goals — alongside major cybersecurity threats and concerns about democratic disruption and job displacement.
Scope & Significance
This Special Issue seeks contributions that explore the intersections and interfaces of sustainability, human-centeredness, and digital technologies — including AI — from an inclusive and interdisciplinary perspective.
To balance digitalization, sustainability, and human-centricity, Industry 5.0 strategies (Europe) and Society 5.0 strategies (Japan) are being developed to address the challenges posed by new technologies. Research highlights both the enabling role of AI, blockchain, IoT, and big data for resource efficiency — and persistent challenges of data interoperability, digital divides, and rebound effects that may undermine environmental benefits.
The editors welcome both conceptual and empirical contributions from a range of methodological approaches.
⚠️ Papers must explore the dynamics of integrating digital technologies taking into account ethical, environmental, societal, and other considerations, and discuss the multiple crises described above. Papers not focused on this will not be considered.
List of Topic Areas
Manuscripts are invited on themes including, but not limited to:
Digital technology management and innovation — integrating social, political, and economic perspectives
Digital and intelligent governance and sustainable production and consumption
Digital resilience, crisis management, and socio-technical systems
Impact of dependence on digital technologies on business, governance, and education
AI utilization in multiple sectors — including marketing and responsible data governance
AI utilization in investment and crypto economies for financial safety
Cultural patterns and organizational acceptance of AI
Benefits and shortcomings of augmented decision-making through human-AI collaboration
Digital divide — disparities in internet usage, socio-demographic inequalities, and employment changes
Corporate digital responsibility — transparency, accountability, and environmental stewardship
FinTech, digital entrepreneurship ecosystems, and inclusive digital platforms
Smart cities, digital infrastructure, and mega-event impacts on digital public services
Digital resilience and antifragile organizational responses to crises
Ethical challenges of AI in sensitive domains — healthcare, education, and governance
Green technology innovation, low-carbon transitions, and digital sustainability
Industry 5.0 and Society 5.0 — strategies for sustainable and human-centric digital futures
Guest Editors
Prof. Tugrul U. Daim Portland State University, Portland, USA 📧 tugrul.u.daim@pdx.edu
Dr. Nihan Yıldırım Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey 📧 yildirimni@itu.edu.tr
Dr. Kubra Şimşek Abdullah Gul University, Kayseri, Turkey 📧 kubra.simsek@agu.edu.tr
Prof. Scott Cunningham University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK 📧 scott.cunningham@strath.ac.uk
Key Deadlines
📅 Manuscript Submission Opens: 28 February 2026
⏰ Manuscript Submission Deadline: 15 December 2026
Submission Guidelines
Submit your paper through Editorial Manager, the official online submission system for Technology in Society, before the submission deadline.
When submitting, select Article Type: "VSI: human-centric management" (Please select this item to link your paper to the Special Issue.)
All submissions will undergo peer review and be evaluated based on originality, significance, technical quality, and clarity.
⚠️ All submissions must be original and must not be under review elsewhere at the time of submission.
For author guidelines, visit the official Technology in Society journal page on the Elsevier ScienceDirect website.
About the Journal
Technology in Society, published by Elsevier, is a premier international peer-reviewed journal with a CiteScore of 21.9 and Impact Factor of 12.5. It supports open access publishing and is dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary research on the complex relationships between technology, institutions, and society. It provides a leading global platform for scholars exploring how technological change shapes and is shaped by governance, culture, economics, and political structures across diverse national and regional contexts.
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