Introduction
Rapid technological changes and digital innovation offer opportunities for companies and governments to improve productivity, quality of life and resilience of economies and societies. It is important to consider the risks to sustainability too (European Commission, 2026; Li et al., 2026; Xue and Shen, 2026; Zhang et al., 2020, 2023). This issue aims to foster dialogue and recommendations on digital innovation for different sectors and regions.
Contents of the issue
Issue 8 of the Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management features a regular collection of 8 papers addressing some key issues for competitiveness of companies and nations: digital transformation, e-government, innovation, technology transfer and sustainability. It discusses empirical evidence from India, Indonesia, Gulf Cooperation Countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), Lithuania and Malaysia.
The first paper titled “E-government maturity models in the metaverse government: A conceptual framework and future research agenda” (by Lnenicka, Rizun, Alexopoulos; and Saxena) presents the results of a study that focuses on “the way metaverse might revolutionize the governance format – precisely the e-government concept – besides underlining the challenges leaving suggestive contours for further research in this realm. An inductive research approach included the content analysis of relevant literature to identify patterns and generalize them into areas and approaches. Developing a conceptual framework seeks to systematically organize knowledge on metaverse government and provide an understanding of its contributions to enhancing the e-government maturity models. The authors identified three general areas and approaches – content and data lifecycle management; platforms, tools and services; and infrastructure and computing resources – that shape how challenges of enterprise architecture layers should be resolved in a future research agenda. Integration of these government metaverse areas and approaches is linked with four enterprise architecture layers (technology, applications, data and business) that advance a new e-government meta stage of e-government maturity and the related challenges. Hitherto, metaverse literature has hinged itself on the benefits and challenges of metaverse in the private sector. However, the exact dimensions have not been probed in the public sector and its e-government domain – the present study seeks to plug this gap.”
The paper titled “Moving towards Bank 4.0 in India: A qualitative thematic analysis and future research agenda” (by Sahoo, Saraf and Uchil) affirms that: the banking sector is more revolutionized than ever, with advanced technologies driving a seismic change in the financial industry. This study aims to understand how digital technologies influence banking sector employees and their perception of working in an era of Banking 4.0. This study incorporated qualitative analysis to gain different insights from diverse respondents from banking industries. A purposive sampling method was adopted, and semistructured interviews were conducted, taking a sample of 72 respondents. All the transcripts were then analyzed using NVivo. The findings focus on challenges related to understanding technology phenomena, managing changes, infrastructure, skills, competitiveness and regulatory mechanisms. This is further followed by the favorable impact of Banking 4.0 on employees and future avenues, such as innovation in financial services, work productivity, career opportunities and change management, banking 4.0 and banking 5.0, and banking 4.0 management strategies identified as the significant findings. This study provides guidelines for Banking 4.0 provision strategy and conceptual reference toward the development of Banking 4.0. It also supports the Enhanced Access and Service Excellence 4.0 program, driven by the Indian Bank’s Association, to focus more on digitization, automation and data analytics.
The paper titled “Additionalities of innovation voucher schemes: evidence from Lithuania” (by Antanavičius, Krūminas, Paliokaite, Christenko, Elenskė and Bernotas) aims to: improve the understanding of the impact of innovation vouchers (IVs) by assessing the additionality of IV instruments supporting business-research collaboration in Lithuania. The approach relies on studying potential input, behavioural and output additionalities created by IVs. Adopting this perspective, the paper outlines a theoretical framework that indicates the expected contribution of IV schemes and empirically tests its implications. The model is tested by analysing the Inno-vouchers LT instrument implemented in Lithuania in 2012–2014. The study relies on a counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) and descriptive statistical analysis of survey data of the applicants for IVs. The study findings are structured around three types of additionalities. Evidence on input additionality of IV projects provides mixed results, but a significant share of projects included private investment that would not exist without Inno-vouchers LT. Yet, many beneficiaries would also have implemented projects without public support. Both survey data analysis and CIE provide evidence of behavioural additionality, albeit limited. They strongly support the hypothesis that IVs increase companies’ willingness to cooperate with research organisations. Finally, evidence on output additionality is ambiguous. Long-term or indirect output additionality (measured by employment and turnover) seems to be non-existent according to CIE results. Despite the policy relevance and use of IVs instruments, evidence on the effectiveness is limited. The authors present findings on IVs additionality and suggest avenues for further research.
The paper titled “Unpacking Innovation in Digital Multi-Sided Platform Startups: Making Sense of Path Creation in Generating Two Distinct Types of Innovation” (by Santoso) analyses: the role of effectual logic as the basis of entrepreneurial action in path creation for influencing the performance of open innovation outcomes within the context of digital multi-sided platform (MSP) startups. We utilize the PLS-SEM method with a sample of 70 Indonesian digital MSP startups that have implemented open innovation practices. The empirical findings indicate a path creation between effectual logic and the open innovation process, particularly through the integration of absorptive capacity and crowds or communities management practices. Absorptive capacity development fosters incremental innovation, whereas crowds or communities management practices lead to radical innovation. The research findings suggest that, despite limited resources and experience, young entrepreneurs can successfully implement an open innovation strategy for their digital MSP platforms by utilizing effectual logic principles, which capitalize on the external resources provided by digital platform ecosystem members.
The paper titled “Digital Inclusion and Sustainable Development Goals” (by Alhassan and Adam) studies: the empirical linkages between information and communication technologies (ICTs), digital inclusion and sustainable development. This research aims to address a gap in the existing literature by exploring how ICT policies and digital inclusion efforts contribute to sustainable development outcomes across countries in developed and developing regions. Governments around the globe are increasingly relying on ICT policies to promote development in societies. Specifically, access and use of ICTs have been found to promote sustainable development across countries. Studies further argue the need for countries to bridge the digital divide to reap the full benefits of sustainable development. However, the empirical linkages between ICTs, digital inclusion and sustainable development have seldom been explored. This study is conducted to fill this gap in the literature. This study relies on the capability approach and archival data for 130 countries from the network readiness index for 2021 to examine the nexus between ICTs, digital inclusion and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using partial least squares structural equation modelling to validate the study’s hypotheses. Findings show the positive effects of ICT access and ICT usage on digital inclusion. Digital inclusion was found to be significantly associated with SDGs. Furthermore, mediating effect results show the significant effect of digital inclusion on the nexus between ICT access and SDGs as well as ICT usage and SDGs.
The paper titled “Sustainable synergy: exploring the nexus of green initiatives and digitalization in Gulf countries – a comprehensive study on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators” (by Ijaz, Naz and Sadiq) explores: the trajectory of Gulf region, focusing on the interplay between environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and key elements – digital economy, green economy (GE), green finance, green energy and green innovation. This study aims to provide a nuanced understanding of how Gulf economies align their developmental pursuits with sustainability principles amidst the rapid evolution of digital technologies. A data set of 95 listed companies from six Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – from year 2016 to 2022 was compiled from reputable sources. Using fixed effect regression techniques, this study explores relationships, accounting for individual and time-specific variations. This study indicates that key factors – digital economy, GE, green energy and green innovation – significantly influence ESG performance across Gulf nations underscoring the potential for strategic integration of these elements to enhance sustainable practices. However, the nonsignificant impact of green finance highlights a need for further exploration and refinement of financial mechanisms to effectively contribute to ESG goals in the Gulf region. The findings underscore the importance for Gulf policymakers to prioritize ongoing support and policy formulation fostering digitalization and green initiatives. Businesses in the region can enhance ESG performance by integrating sustainable practices, promoting long-term resilience and reputation. Investors and financial institutions can use these insights to guide investment decisions, prioritizing projects contributing to environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
The paper titled “Identifying a process model for the transfer of spin-off technologies from a Public-funded Mission-oriented Research Organization” (by Thyagaraju, Jai and Grover) presents the results of a study that: aims to identify an empirical process model and to delineate success factors (both success-enabling factors and success-inhibiting factors) and special insights useful for managerial interventions for the transfer of spin-off technologies from a public-funded mission-oriented research organization (PMRO) dealing with nuclear technologies in India. Empirical qualitative case study research was conducted on purposively selected five real-life cases by semistructured interviews with the actors involved in tech-transfers from the PMRO. Within-case content analyses were carried out as per grounded theory. The emerging subprocesses were mapped into a conceptual theoretical model preconstructed based on a literature review. Success factors and special insights were identified by reflecting upon the results of analyses. Cross-case analysis was carried out to yield organization-wide findings. Organization-wide process model of tech-transfers, success factors and special insights emerged from five cases of technology transfer cases from a PMRO of India. A limitation stems from the inevitable subjectivity due to considerable presence of human element, and qualitative methods used to study a limited number of cases. However, purposive sampling of cases and traceability of evidence built into the procedure of content analysis largely allay this limitation.
The paper titled “Exploring factors influencing the continued use of personal cloud computing services: an extended expectation-confirmation model” (by Khahar, Vafaei-Zadeh Hanifah and Ramayah) presents the results of a study that: leverages an enhanced expectation confirmation model of information technology continuance to explore the factors that shape the continuance intention toward cloud computing services. Data were collected from personal cloud computing service users in Malaysia, resulting in a total of 567 usable responses. The research used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for comparative analysis and model selection based on predictive accuracy. The study findings demonstrate that perceived benefits, ease of use, usefulness, risk and trust play crucial roles as antecedents to user confirmation and satisfaction, thereby influencing the intention for continuous service usage. Notably, the hypotheses formulated for the study received robust support, with 13 out of 14 anticipated relationships proving statistically significant. This study presents a novel investigation into the continuance of personal cloud computing services among Malaysian users, contributing to a deeper understanding of user intention dynamics in this context. Integrating an expanded ECM-IT framework offers a comprehensive analytical approach that simultaneously considers information systems and non-IS factors. Additionally, the study underscores the significance of predictive capability assessment using the PLSpredict method, providing a valuable benchmark for model selection in future research.
