The Hidden Costs of Technological Progress: Risks, Governance, and Sustainability in the Transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0
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The Hidden Costs of Technological Progress: Risks, Governance, and Sustainability in the Transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0
Journal: Technology in Society
Publisher: Elsevier
Submission Opens: 22 June 2026
Submission Deadline: 18 January 2027
Introduction
Technological development has progressed through successive industrial paradigms — culminating in the data-driven, digitally interconnected systems of Industry 4.0. Core technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics, blockchain, and cyber-physical systems have profoundly transformed industrial operations, organizational practices, and service delivery.
While Industry 4.0 promises efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness, growing evidence points to its "dark side" — environmental, social, ethical, and governance challenges that remain underexplored. Data-intensive infrastructures — including global data centres — generate substantial energy and water demands, contribute to carbon emissions, and produce electronic waste. Digitally mediated work and automation can exacerbate psychosocial strain, technostress, and inequities — particularly in emerging economies where institutional capacity and digital literacy may be limited.
The diffusion of AI, blockchain, and smart contracts also raises governance, privacy, and cybersecurity concerns — from financial fraud to ethical misuse of digital platforms.
Industry 5.0 has emerged as a human-centric, sustainability-oriented paradigm — emphasizing ethical design, human-machine collaboration, and socio-technical resilience. This Special Issue critically assesses whether Industry 5.0 can meaningfully address the limitations of Industry 4.0 while advancing sustainable, equitable, and responsible technological futures.
Scope & Significance
This Special Issue examines the often-overlooked societal, ethical, and environmental consequences of Industry 4.0 — and critically assesses whether Industry 5.0 can offer more human-centred and sustainable pathways. By bridging fragmented debates and highlighting emerging blind spots, it provides timely insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to shape more ethical, resilient, and socially grounded technological futures.
The editors invite conceptual, empirical, review, and policy-focused research — including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and comparative studies. Contributions addressing multi-level and cross-contextual perspectives — at individual, organizational, and societal levels — and covering both emerging and developed economies are particularly welcome.
List of Topic Areas
Manuscripts are invited on themes including, but not limited to:
Environmental footprint of digital infrastructures — energy, water, carbon, and e-waste
The "dark side" of Industry 4.0 — unintended social, ethical, and environmental consequences
Industry 5.0 as a human-centric and sustainability-oriented paradigm
Human-machine collaboration and ethical design in Industry 5.0
AI governance, explainability, and responsible adoption strategies
Cybersecurity, privacy, and digital platform misuse
Technostress, workforce well-being, and psychosocial impacts of digitalization
Circular economy practices and digital technology integration
Cyber-physical system safety and governance
Digital inequities — emerging versus developed economy perspectives
Blockchain and smart contracts — governance risks and ethical dimensions
Socio-technical resilience and sustainability in digital transformation
Supply chain and operations transformation in Industry 4.0 and 5.0
Responsible digital transformation — organizational and policy perspectives
Multi-level analysis — individual, organizational, and societal consequences of digital progress
Guest Editors
Prof. Vikas Kumar University of Portsmouth, UK 📧 Vikas.Kumar@port.ac.uk
Dr. Muhammad Mustafa Kamal University of Exeter Business School, UK 📧 M.M.Kamal@exeter.ac.uk
Dr. Ebru Susur Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain 📧 ebru.susur@upm.es
Dr. Narain Gupta Birmingham City University, UK & Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India 📧 narain.gupta@bcu.ac.uk / narain.gupta@mdi.ac.in
Key Deadlines
📅 Manuscript Submission Opens: 22 June 2026
⏰ Manuscript Submission Deadline: 18 January 2027
Submission Guidelines
Submit your manuscript through Editorial Manager, the official online submission system for Technology in Society, before the submission deadline.
When submitting, select Article Type: "VSI: Industry 4.0 to 5.0" (Please select this item to ensure the submission is included in 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 — providing 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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