The COVID 19 crisis has underlined how important it is for companies to drive digitalization and adopt new technologies in order to be and remain competitive in the ever-changing and uncertain business environment. The adoption of disruptive technologies that can accelerate digital transformation has also increased during this period. The main objective of this study is to identify and develop a potential use case of blockchain technology in the pre-adoption phase of blockchain for improving the management of optimal distribution of solar energy electricity through a microgrid in the south of Sweden enabling a small business to enhance consumer behavior monitoring and therefore, incentivizing consumers on consumption of solar energy. Based on a qualitative research approach involving data collected through a variety of methods, this paper proposes and evaluates a potential use case of blockchain technology adoption in a smaller Swedish organization operating in solar energy distribution industry focusing on the pre-adoption phase.

Cities worldwide are recognised as major consumers of global natural and energy resources. Amidst pressing environmental, climate and urbanisation challenges, cities play a pivotal role in the global transition towards sustainability. Traditionally, circular economy (CE) principles have been embraced by businesses and governments to enhance resource efficiency and foster sustainable development.  However, it is crucial to extend these principles to the city level, creating more resilient and sustainable urban environments and building a circular city brand. This study identifies several circular initiatives in Swedish cities, opening the opportunities for using circularity in city branding. These examples showcase holistic system thinking, like sewage and energy systems, and industrial symbiosis between companies. They also highlight the sustainable kitchen, covering food waste, transportation, values, and behaviours. The social dimension is crucial, especially for fostering a diverse and inclusive knowledge base for circular city brand.  

The aim of this study is to discuss to what extend CE principles can be utilised in city branding strategies.

Theoretical framework. ‘Circular city’ is a relatively new concept, characterised by city’s ability to maximise resource value, minimise waste generation and foster sustainable innovations. Building upon the principles of smart and sustainable cities, circular cities further develop and integrate these concepts, placing primary emphasis on stakeholder engagement, cooperation, and co-creation utilising digital technologies.    

Main research approach. Research on circular city branding is rather fragmented and needs further conceptualisation. Descriptive research approach is based on the analysis of existing circular city initiatives in Sweden and provides insights, suggestions, and directions of building a city brand with circularity in focus.  

Key arguments/findings. The findings suggest the importance of collaboration, innovation, and digital technologies for building a circular city brand. 

Conclusions. This study discusses the potential of integrating CE principles into city branding. By recognizing cities as key players in the global sustainability transition policymakers, urban planners, and place branding professionals can develop effective strategies to promote circularity at the city level. 

Several practical implications can be considered: 

·       Cities should align place branding with CE principles to communicate their commitment to sustainability and resilience.

·       Engaging different groups of stakeholders is essential for co-creating circular city initiatives and fostering a sense of ownership and participation.

·       Leveraging digital technologies can enhance stakeholder engagement, facilitate collaboration, and communicate circularity initiatives effectively.

·       Learning from existing circular city initiatives, both within Sweden and globally, can provide valuable insights for building a successful city brand with circularity in focus.

Background: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adoption across the agricultural sector has grown and changed rapidly over the past years, which may contribute significantly to addressing global challenges. However, ICT adoption is facing technology-integrating challenges in business operations and business model innovation. Thus, to develop and strengthen a sustainable, competitive agricultural sector and to achieve profitable development, it is important to increase the knowledge of ICTs and their impacts, especially when it comes to animal welfare. Moreover, it is important to empower developed business models and governance of innovation ecosystems to release the full potential of ICT and its widespread adoption. 

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the literature on ICT and business model innovation in the Agricultural sector. The research aims to stimulate the use of ICT in the agricultural sector, recognizing the role of business model innovation in releasing the full potential of ICT and promoting the widespread adoption of ICT, and address the sustainable aspect of animal welfare.

Method: This study combines a systematic literature review approach with bibliometric analysis. To develop the Bibliometric Literature Review, Scopus and Web of Science databases were used together with software: Rayyan and VOSviewer. Rayyan was used to manage the collaboration between the researcher team during the review process. Then, the maps were created by VOSviewer. We conduct a science mapping to examine the relationships between research constituents. The techniques for science mapping include citation analysis, co-citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, co-word analysis, and co-authorship analysis.

Findings: The study shows an increasing trend of year-on-year publications, authors' performance, publication journals, associated institutions, and research-driving countries, along with key insights from co-citation network analysis. Different perspectives showed the multidisciplinary nature of the topic. It is a fragmented literature regarding the authors and countries' publications.  The results map and discuss the main issues that are covered in ICT fields and business models in agriculture, thereby providing suggestions for future research and policy. The bibliometric analysis reveals the descriptive statistics on this field and the main themes through the authors' keywords.

Research limitations/implications: The research explores a topic in the early stage to define key strands of literature. Limitations arise from the sources used to develop our analysis and how the topic appears as a frontier innovation.

Originality/value: Originality is the integration of literature strands related to ICT and business model innovation in the Agricultural sector, highlighting its multidisciplinary nature to provide a holistic understanding of the themes. 

This Bibliometric Literature Review provides a supporting output that can help both research and policies that aim to boost innovation in the agricultural sector. The paper contributes to the knowledge by organizing, rationalizing, and extending the extant literature with valuable insights about the current status of research; most cited articles, authors, journals, keywords, and contributing communities using various bibliometric techniques.

Perception and awareness can affect behaviour and decision-making, for example, how companies implement Circular Economy (CE) practices. However, there is limited empirical research about this topic. Thus, we investigated the perception and awareness of representatives from water-intensive and bio-based sectors regarding the CE concept based on interviews and a survey with 10 companies in Sweden. Our results indicate that CE is understood mainly as zero waste and its key principles are resource efficiency and ecodesign. Missing (or partially addressed) important elements of CE are consumption, social aspects, regenerative role of CE, collaboration, and Industrial Symbiosis. The main benefit from implementing circular strategies is economic, and the main barrier is the lack of financial resources. The bio-based companies have a broader understanding of CE and its benefits than the water-intensive companies. Overall, more clarification and standardisation of the CE concept is necessary to avoid misunderstanding with other concepts such as sustainability. © 2024 The Authors

This report is based on case studies from Sweden, indicating that the local context can be developed into a competitive advantage when using sustainable and digital solutions. The study also draws on findings from a consumer study, targeting sustainable shopping habits and interest towards new ways of purchasing food in the future. Results indicate that new sustainable business models can provide sustainable values for both farmers as well as end-consumers, but the traditional value chain need to be evaluated on value adding aspects and traceability along the process. Additionally, the end-consumer indicate an interest to purchase food directly from the farmer, which is considered as an important aspect for better animal health and welfare. This is an important aspect to include when doing business model innovation in the agricultural sector.

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic literature review is to understand what the phenomenon of uncaptured value is, identify where it is operationalized and explore how it can be transformed into value opportunities. Uncaptured value in sustainable business model innovation can lead to new value creation which, in turn, can promote practices of innovation, sustainability and inclusiveness. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review was conducted using eight databases to identify 47 articles using the phrase sustainable business model innovation along with the terms value uncaptured, value surplus, value absence, value missed and value destroyed. Findings: The findings have identified that uncaptured value is reoccurring in sustainable business model innovation but is left as the missing link. This paper outlines the novelties of uncaptured value in sustainable business model innovation into a framework that can be used for future research, which is also discussed, concluded and suggested. Originality/value: A framework for the continued research on uncaptured value in sustainable business model innovation with an emphasis on influences, operationalization and practices has been created to further the research frontier and capture the missing link. © 2024, Senad Osmanovic, Henrik Barth and Pia Ulvenblad.

The measurement of progress towards Circular Economy (CE) within a company is crucial for identifying opportunities and designing circular practices. However, most of the existing tools do not consider the systemic view and principles of CE. The aim of this paper is to assess the contributions and limitations of CE assessment tools regarding the key elements: social dimension, stakeholder engagement, R-imperatives and industrial symbiosis. Also, the aim is to offer guidance for improvements towards a CE transition. The methodology was an integrative literature review; then based on the critical assessment of tools a guide was created. Thirty-eight tools were thoroughly analysed and our results show that there is a limited number of multidisciplinary tools (only 10), that is including all CE key elements, and in some cases partly. Social dimension is not fully explored; only 6 tools have indicators related to society, local community, customers, and workers. Recommendations for future tools development include to offer training for possible users of the tools and to develop tools for the service sector. Finally, we conclude that all the key elements of CE are interconnected. The proposed guide-ACTION (Assessing Circular Transition In Organisations Now)- includes the key elements, databases, tools, and indicators, and is aligned with the CE principles to help the assessment. © 2022 The Author(s)

Technology education has traditionally been male dominated, and many educator providers struggle to both attract and keep females related to education. Gamification, the use of game elements in a nongame context, has been shown to increase student engagement and inclusion in the learning environment. However, the gamification design and development process has been declared resource-demanding, which has reduced the more tailored approaches resulting in more generic ones. This is contradictory to the findings that gamification designs, especially in instruction, are context dependent. Therefore, this chapter displays an analogue gamification approach that is applied in a real-life environment, a technology vocational school, supporting the teachers’ combat of gender inequality and expediting diversity and inclusion. © 2023 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.