Unleashing the power of IoT: Transdisciplinary pathways for digital transformation

In this editorial on the Digital Business Special Issue “Unleashing the Power of IoT: Transforming Business Models, Fueling Innovation, and Navigating Digital Ecosystems,” we set out to explore how the Internet of Things (IoT) and related digital technologies reshape organisations, economies, and societies. Building on the themes outlined in the Call for Papers, the nine papers in this collection collectively demonstrate IoT's transdisciplinary reach. They do so through quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, design science, and computational methods applied to datasets ranging from large-scale national datasets to ethnographically rich community information. We identify seven patterns from the nine papers: IoT's cross-disciplinary collaboration, contextual re-conceptualisation, threshold-dependent value creation, social trust and inclusion, governance ecosystems, data democratisation, and convergence across sectors. Together, these patterns show that IoT functions not only as technological infrastructure but also as an epistemic bridge that integrates engineering, management, policy, and the social sciences. In doing so, the special issue advances the aims set out in the Call for Papers by providing evidence of how IoT enables value creation, supports ethical and responsible adoption, and fosters more resilient and sustainable digital ecosystems.