Digitalisation as the indicator of the evidence of sustainability in the European Union

Abstract

Digitalisation provides access to an integrated network of information that can benefit society and businesses. However, the evidence of sustainability in business is less researched. In our paper, by building up the research approach, we address that gap by investigating how sustainable development goals perceive the interrelationship between digitalization and sustainability. Such research is particularly important because understandings of digitalization and sustainability determine how different actors, including business managers and policymakers, act in response to those imperatives starting from growing future employees from school age. Following a multi-method approach, we combined analysis in two steps examining the relationship between digitalization and sustainability. Building digital networks, business managers and policy makers using digital means can create something unique opportunities to strategically address sustainable development challenges for the United Nations Targets (SDG) to ensure higher productivity, education and equality-oriented society. This point of view describes the potential of digitalisation for society and businesses of the future. The authors revise the links between digitalisation and sustainability in the European Union countries by using data available in Eurostat and UNECE public databases. The two-stage methodology for the identification of the relationship between ICT and sustainability is used in the paper and the linear regression model is applied. The results showed tiers with five SDGs, focusing on business, and all these tiers are fixed in the constructed equations for each SDG. The recommended solution is statistically valid and proves the novelty of research. Among digitalisation indicators, only mobile-cellular subscriptions and fixed-broadband sub-basket prices in part do not affect researched sustainable development indicators.