IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envpol/v22y2020i2d10.1007_s10018-019-00259-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using ICT indicators to measure readiness of countries to implement Industry 4.0 and the SDGs

Author

Listed:
  • Godwell Nhamo

    (Institute for Corporate Citizenship, UNISA)

  • Charles Nhemachena

    (Southern Africa Regional Office)

  • Senia Nhamo

    (UNISA)

Abstract

At the epicentre of Industry 4.0 is Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and across the 17 Sustainable Development (SDGs) are indicators focusing on ICT. In addition, SDG 9 focuses on promoting sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation. This paper samples 212 countries and regions, drawing up a 2015 baseline composite index using three out of six ICT-related SDGs indicators with data. The data come from the World Development Indicators database and the min–max method of computing the composite index was applied. The findings show that the top 10 countries scored between 71.27 and 78.26 points out of the weighted total of 100, while the bottom 10 countries (all African) registered between 0.02 and 5.80 points. As for the regions, the European Union came top at 60.20 points and sub-Saharan Africa was last at 13.04 points. The African country ranked first (Seychelles) scored 43.83 points and ranked 80th overall. Broadly, there is significant work required to prepare all countries for Industry 4.0 through ICT and to work towards attaining ICT-related SDGs targets by 2030. We recommend that right platforms be set up to promote ICT scale-up and lessen the convergence period between frontrunner countries and those lagging behind.

Suggested Citation

  • Godwell Nhamo & Charles Nhemachena & Senia Nhamo, 2020. "Using ICT indicators to measure readiness of countries to implement Industry 4.0 and the SDGs," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(2), pages 315-337, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envpol:v:22:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10018-019-00259-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10018-019-00259-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10018-019-00259-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10018-019-00259-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fernanda Strozzi & Claudia Colicchia & Alessandro Creazza & Carlo Noè, 2017. "Literature review on the ‘Smart Factory’ concept using bibliometric tools," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(22), pages 6572-6591, November.
    2. Charles Nhemachena & Greenwell Matchaya & Charity R. Nhemachena & Selma Karuaihe & Binganidzo Muchara & Sibusiso Nhlengethwa, 2018. "Measuring Baseline Agriculture-Related Sustainable Development Goals Index for Southern Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Godwell Nhamo, 2017. "New Global Sustainable Development Agenda: A Focus on Africa," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 227-241, May.
    4. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    5. Yong Yin & Kathryn E. Stecke & Dongni Li, 2018. "The evolution of production systems from Industry 2.0 through Industry 4.0," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(1-2), pages 848-861, January.
    6. Alexandre Moeuf & Robert Pellerin & Samir Lamouri & Simon Tamayo-Giraldo & Rodolphe Barbaray, 2018. "The industrial management of SMEs in the era of Industry 4.0," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 1118-1136, February.
    7. George Halkos & Shunsuke Managi, 2016. "Special issue on “Growth and the environment”," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(3), pages 273-275, July.
    8. George Kararach & Godwell Nhamo & Maurice Mubila & Senia Nhamo & Charles Nhemachena & Suresh Babu, 2018. "Reflections on the Green Growth Index for developing countries: A focus of selected African countries," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 432-454, March.
    9. Nhemachena, Charles & Matchaya, Greenwell & Nhemachena, C. R. & Karuaihe, S. & Muchara, B. & Nhlengethwa, Sibusiso, 2018. "Measuring baseline agriculture-related sustainable development goals index for southern Africa," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 10(3):1-16..
    10. Gobinda Chowdhury & Kushwanth Koya, 2017. "Information practices for sustainability: Role of iSchools in achieving the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs)," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(9), pages 2128-2138, September.
    11. Shigemi Kagawa & Seiji Hashimoto & Shunsuke Managi, 2015. "Special issue: studies on industrial ecology," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 17(3), pages 361-368, July.
    12. Francesco Crespi & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Shunsuke Managi, 2016. "Green growth, eco-innovation and sustainable transitions," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(2), pages 137-141, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maria-Glòria Barberà-Mariné & Laura Fabregat-Aibar & Valeria Ferreira & Antonio Terceño, 2024. "One Step Away from 2030: An Assessment of the Progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the European Union [A un paso de 2030: Una evaluación del progreso de los Objetivos de Desarrollo S," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(6), pages 1372-1397, December.
    2. Krzysztof Ejsmont & Bartlomiej Gladysz & Aldona Kluczek, 2020. "Impact of Industry 4.0 on Sustainability—Bibliometric Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-29, July.
    3. Caiado, Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão & Machado, Eduardo & Santos, Renan Silva & Thomé, Antonio Márcio Tavares & Scavarda, Luiz Felipe, 2024. "Sustainable I4.0 integration and transition to I5.0 in traditional and digital technological organisations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    4. Gladys Merma-Molina & Diego Gavilán-Martín & Juan-Francisco Álvarez-Herrero, 2021. "Education for Sustainable Development: The Impact of the Values in Mobile Phone Addiction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Halkos, George & Gkampoura, Eleni-Christina, 2021. "Where do we stand on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? An overview on progress," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 94-122.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Júlia A. Nagy & József Benedek & Kinga Ivan, 2018. "Measuring Sustainable Development Goals at a Local Level: A Case of a Metropolitan Area in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, October.
    2. Francisco Guijarro & Juan A. Poyatos, 2018. "Designing a Sustainable Development Goal Index through a Goal Programming Model: The Case of EU-28 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Raejung Lee & Jinho Kim, 2021. "Developing a Social Index for Measuring the Public Opinion Regarding the Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 201-221, July.
    4. David Horan, 2020. "National Baselines for Integrated Implementation of an Environmental Sustainable Development Goal Assessed in a New Integrated SDG Index," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-20, August.
    5. Danilson Varela & Filipa Monteiro & Patrícia Vidigal & Luís Silva & Maria M. Romeiras, 2020. "Mechanisms Implemented for the Sustainable Development of Agriculture: An Overview of Cabo Verde Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Dongsheng Wei & Bing Liu & Zhugeng Duan & Wentao Yang, 2022. "Measuring local progress of the 2030 Agenda for SDGs in the Yangtze River Economic Zone, China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 7178-7194, May.
    7. Koray Altintas & Ozalp Vayvay & Sinan Apak & Emine Cobanoglu, 2020. "An Extended GRA Method Integrated with Fuzzy AHP to Construct a Multidimensional Index for Ranking Overall Energy Sustainability Performances," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, February.
    8. Minjie Li & Jian Wang & Yihui Chen, 2019. "Evaluation and Influencing Factors of Sustainable Development Capability of Agriculture in Countries along the Belt and Road Route," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-28, April.
    9. Rakotoarimanana Zy Misa Harivelo & Rakotoarimanana Zy Harifidy, 2022. "A Review of Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development in Madagascar," J, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-20, November.
    10. De Pascale, Gianluigi & Romagno, Anna, 2024. "Globalization and ICT capital endowment: How do they impact on an inclusive Green Growth Index?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 463-474.
    11. Shih-Chia Chang & Hsu-Hwa Chang & Ming-Tsang Lu, 2021. "Evaluating Industry 4.0 Technology Application in SMEs: Using a Hybrid MCDM Approach," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-21, February.
    12. Shu Yu & Yongtong Mu, 2022. "Sustainable Agricultural Development Assessment: A Comprehensive Review and Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, September.
    13. Benitez, Guilherme Brittes & Ayala, Néstor Fabián & Frank, Alejandro G., 2020. "Industry 4.0 innovation ecosystems: An evolutionary perspective on value cocreation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    14. Betzabe Ruiz-Morales & Irma Cristina Espitia-Moreno & Victor G. Alfaro-Garcia & Ernesto Leon-Castro, 2021. "Sustainable Development Goals Analysis with Ordered Weighted Average Operators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-27, May.
    15. Delgosha, Mohammad Soltani & Hajiheydari, Nastaran & Talafidaryani, Mojtaba, 2022. "Discovering IoT implications in business and management: A computational thematic analysis," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    16. Ketut Sukiyono & Muhammad Mustopa Romdhon & Gita Mulyasari & M. Zulkarnain Yuliarso & Musriyadi Nabiu & Agung Trisusilo & Reflis & Dompak M. T. Napitupulu & Yoga Nugroho & May Shiska Puspitasari & Sig, 2022. "The Contribution of Oil Palm Smallholders Farms to the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals-Measurement Attempt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-16, June.
    17. Esat Durguti & Emine Gashi & Filloreta Kunoviku-Demiri & Milaim Mehmeti, 2020. "Evaluation of Economic Indicators for Western Balkans Countries: Policy Recommendations for the Financial and Economic Growth," International Journal of Finance & Banking Studies, Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 9(1), pages 36-46, January.
    18. Mariani, Marcello & Borghi, Matteo, 2019. "Industry 4.0: A bibliometric review of its managerial intellectual structure and potential evolution in the service industries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    19. Matheus Becker Costa & Leonardo Moraes Aguiar Lima Santos & Jones Luís Schaefer & Ismael Cristofer Baierle & Elpidio Oscar Benitez Nara, 2019. "Industry 4.0 technologies basic network identification," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(2), pages 977-994, November.
    20. Biggeri, Mario & Clark, David A. & Ferrannini, Andrea & Mauro, Vincenzo, 2019. "Tracking the SDGs in an ‘integrated’ manner: A proposal for a new index to capture synergies and trade-offs between and within goals," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 628-647.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envpol:v:22:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10018-019-00259-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.