Exploring digital solutions for sustainable production: academic insights and practical applications

Digital technology adoption in sustainable production practices is increasingly recognised as pivotal for advancing sustainability objectives. However, existing literature predominantly focuses on the technological aspects, leaving the nuanced experiences and insights of academic scholars underexplored. This study addresses this gap by surveying 314 scholars from diverse regions to evaluate the influence of various digital technologies on economic, operational, and environmental performance in sustainable production. Utilising multilevel ordinal logistic regression (M-OLR), the research identifies six critical digital technologies that significantly enhance sustainable production outcomes. The application of M-OLR effectively accounts for spatial heterogeneity, providing a more robust analysis compared to standard ordinal logistic regression (OLR) models. The findings underscore the essential role of digitalisation in facilitating sustainable transitions, offering novel insights into how digital technologies can drive improvements across economic, operational, and environmental dimensions. The implications extend to policy formulation and strategic planning of digital technologies to achieve comprehensive sustainability goals.