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Purpose: The purpose of the chapter is to highlight the game-changing potential of emerging technologies and how these will change the very face of companies cutting across industries. Our work also aims to highlight the converging point of these technologies and describes how these new-age inventions can be more effective if stakeholders adopt a collaborative approach rather than competing against each other.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Using real-world case studies, the chapter identifies the most significant emerging technologies heralding a new era of efficiency across business categories. This identification has been made based on both secondary data and expert interviews. The opinions of the domain and industry experts have also been included to select six emerging technologies for the analysis.

Findings: Based on secondary and primary data, the chapter has identified the five emerging technologies that are expected to change how businesses are run completely today. The technologies are: (1) Metaverse Platforms, (2) Blockchain Technology, (3) Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs), (4) Decentralised Finance, and (5) Cryptocurrency.

Research Limitations/Implications: By identifying emerging technologies and their application domains, the chapter contributes significantly to both the world of academia and practice. The research has important implications for scholars and practitioners as these stakeholders must prepare themselves to realise the maximum potential of these new-age inventions. Policymakers also need to contribute constructively so that the adoption and implementation of these technologies can be done smoothly and seamlessly.

Originality/Value: The research is unique in the sense that it identifies the most-significant emerging technologies and offers a constructive roadmap for stakeholders to integrate these new inventions into their functional procedures and operational mechanisms effectively and efficiently.

Technology is one of the crucial topics for the understanding of the content and meaning of creativity in management. More than ever knowledge and science determine technology and in turn technology determines the economy and management. The range of necessary creativity therefore risks to be highly determined by the evolution of technology. This will bring us to the crucial question whether in the future the diffusion of creativity is still possible when human-made environments are more and more determined by technology. Opdebeeck argues that the question about transhumanism and posthumanism on the relationship between technology and the enhancement of the human person is crucial for humanity and nature as well. With Jurgen Habermas he states that the problem is not modern science and technology per se, but the fact that the reified models of the science and technology migrate into the management life-world and gain power over our self-understanding. The solution must, therefore, rather be sought in keeping the distinction between the sphere of science and technology and the sphere of the human person.

The chapter pays specific attention to the organizing and reorganizing process of the embedding of new technology. The aim is to increase the understanding of how a focal technology is incrementally aligned into a customer’s different business settings. Embedding becomes subject to intense organizing efforts. It becomes a struggle with activating different features of the focal technology by forging and modifying the resource interfaces between the focal technology and customer resources.

The organizing efforts are about seeking, in an explorative mood, for resource interfaces between the focal technology and the customer resources. This organizing process enables the identification of new adaptation opportunities for technology embedding processes, whereby the focal technology obtains certain feature and values.

A systematically developed knowledge of resource interfaces is a key for activating different features of the focal technology and thereby facilitating its embedding into the customer’s various business settings. This is described in a single case study in the chapter. This case and the analysis show how a supplier and a customer struggle with developing resource interface knowledge to activate the different features of the focal technology, thereby facilitating its embedding process. The first part of the chapter establishes a theoretical framework, followed in the second part by the case study and analysis. The concluding discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding and managing various interfaces as part of the organizing processes.

To reveal the impact of the development of technology parks and innovative networks on the national digital economies.

The following methods are utilised: the complex method, statistical analysis, comparative method, correlation analysis and linear programming (method of the game approach category).

We reveal the impact of the development of technology parks and innovative networks on the national digital economies. Analysis of the formation of the digital economy includes the assessment of its components (Rank Knowledge, Rank Technology, Rank Future readiness) in the context of the development of the analysed developed countries (Belgium, France, Iceland, Spain and Hong Kong). It is discovered that Hong Kong and Iceland have high indicators of digital technologies implementation. We prove that these results are connected to investments in this sphere made by integration structures, including the sphere of business, sciences and government agents (in the case of Hong Kong). We perform an analysis of the clustering of the given countries and describe the main forms of integration that ensure the innovative development of the economy. Based on the study of analytical and statistical materials, we determine the perspective model of the impact of these integration mechanisms on the state of innovative development of the digital economy, which could be applied to developing countries.

The originality and value of this research are due to the development of a model of the impact of implementing the integration mechanisms on the state of innovative development of the digital economy, which could be used in the case of developing countries.

Considering the gradual move into the information age, digital technologies have become the new trend in different industries ranging from agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and banking, among others. The construction industry has also evolved progressively since the last decade to explore and adopt digital transformation considering the immense contribution it has towards productivity. More so, the need to combat global warming has compelled experts to begin to seek new technologies in achieving the green effect. This has led experts and researchers in the industry to seek how digital technologies can help to achieve sustainability and further functional construction. There has been a huge gap as to maximising the impact of digital transformation as many organisations in the industry are still struggling to successfully adopt and implement digital construction. This chapter will help to fill this gap and provide clear insight into how digital can help further sustainable construction.

In the effort to procure solutions to emerging challenges faced in the construction industry, construction stakeholders implemented the use of several technologies in construction operations from the onset of project planning to completion. Cyber technology introduced into construction brought about the inclusion of wearable technology, mobile devices, apps, project management software, drones, 3D printers, robotics, etc. to enhance output as the industry tends towards that which is sustainable. This chapter identified benefits, barriers and other related cyber technology interactions within the scope of delivering projects that are of standard, budget and quality at the same time. The conclusion gave a summary of the whole chapter for further comprehension.

Recent advances in digital technologies and their accessibility with ease have become indispensable for children. In contrast to expectations and many regulations, children use digital technologies effectively in many areas from an early age. Digital technologies and digital media, commonly used in entertainment, learning and everyday activities, cover several user-induced problems and challenges. These uses are user-based, not technology-based, which highlights conscious, controlled and time-limited applications that are suitable for their developmental levels. On the other hand, technology has many positive effects, such as providing children with efficient and rich learning opportunities, providing concrete experiences, and increasing their academic success and interest. Also, digital technologies are frequently preferred in learning environments due to the visual preparation of technology-supported materials, addressing more than one sensory organ at the same time, and the inclusion of interaction components. However, in this process, the selection and use of current technologies and software suitable for children's development levels and the factors that need to be considered in the process of use are important to make the learning process effective.

This study aims to provide a systemic and integrated view of how Industry 4.0 and its enabling technologies affect companies' internal and external environments. It offers a comprehensive view of the contribution about ten years after the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The study performs a systematic literature review based on Industry 4.0 management literature. Analyzing the results of the 308 final papers in the sample made it possible to build a theoretical model to explain the contribution of Industry 4.0 to the internal and external environment of the company.

The results highlight the contribution of Industry 4.0 to the processes and environment of the company by providing a systemic and integrated view, highlighting the most applied enabling technologies and their internal, external, and combined usefulness in business processes.

Finally, the paper provides a broad view of the Industry 4.0 topic ten years after its origin through an extensive literature analysis that allows us to highlight the significant studies and the areas still under-researched by researchers and opens the debate on the Industry 5.0 scenario.

The model makes it possible to appreciate the role of Industry 4.0 and its enabling technologies in companies in a broad and systemic view and to understand, from a managerial point of view, the interactions, synergies, and possibilities within processes and the reflection on the external environment.

The paper investigates how visibility, information technology and innovation management impact sustainability performance. It proposes a framework explaining the role of visibility in driving firms' sustainable performance and the relevance of innovation management and information technologies in enhancing organisational visibility. This study intends to add to the discussion within the management literature about the potential of innovation management to drive sustainability. It seeks to provide insight into the practices that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can adopt to improve their sustainable performance.

Using empirical methods, the study investigates SMEs in central Mexico. The demographic information in the dataset includes 15 years as an average length of service from firms. Of the surveyed firms, 70% were from the manufacturing sector and 30% were from the service sector, as these are the most representative sectors of the productive region. A variance-based structural equation model approach was used to test the hypotheses, processed with the partial least squares (PLS) regression method.

The research results show that visibility significantly impacts sustainability performance. Innovation management has a higher influence on visibility than information technologies, emphasising the need to improve the quality of information in firms, not just the tools. The findings support managers in comprehending the crucial importance of visibility in aiding firms to achieve higher sustainability performance.

The study only examined a sample of Mexican SMEs; therefore, the findings' generalizability must be considered within this context. Secondly, the survey only focused on services and manufacturing firms and a more detailed analysis of the sector could provide further clarity on the relationships between variables. As a result, future research should consider these limitations and explore additional contexts to improve the overall understanding of the topic. Moreover, the scale used to measure the variables was adapted from other researchers with similar context research and reflective variables.

The results provide helpful information for SME managers about the importance of focusing on innovation management processes and employing information technologies as crucial managerial strategies. This will aid in increasing visibility and supporting the development of sustainability performance in firms.

The world red-code, among others, with climate change and social gaps, has generated the need to contribute to sustainable development, and it has mobilised people on all levels all over the world for the simple purpose of preserving life. Therefore, society, as a crucial group that affects and is affected by this red-code situation, should act in favour of visibility, the use of high-quality information (e.g. transparent, accessible and relevant) and information technologies to promote sustainable practices. This could mean that society should be prepared to incorporate new capabilities and spaces to interchange knowledge as a participatory community that can contribute to better sustainable dynamics that could expand its participation in public decisions. Also, the government should encourage digital democracy (e.g. develop social participation platforms), opening and harmonising rules and mechanisms combining high-quality information with IT to provide flexible and adequate services that support sustainable development, such as efforts towards constructing sustainable and smart cities.

This study explores how innovation management can drive firms' sustainability performance, which is crucial for improving competitiveness. The question of how to enhance sustainability performance through managerial drivers is a critical one. This study empirically investigates the nexus of visibility and sustainability performance, innovation management and information technology with visibility.