Smart Digital Nudging (SDN) and Strategic Foresight in Knowledge Management

Introduction

In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment, organizations must not only react to change but also anticipate it. This Special Issue of the Journal of Knowledge Management—Digital Nudging and Foresight in Knowledge Management—explores how subtle, technology-mediated interventions and future-oriented thinking can jointly enhance decision quality, organizational learning, and sustainable innovation. It brings together an emerging body of research that investigates how digital nudging and strategic foresight interact within knowledge systems to guide behavior, improve knowledge flows, and strengthen adaptive capacity.

Digital nudging refers to the deliberate design of digital interfaces that influence users’ judgments and behaviors in predictable ways without restricting their freedom of choice. Originating from behavioral economics, the concept has found fertile ground in digital transformation contexts—from online marketing and policymaking to e-government and corporate learning. However, while the behavioral and technological dimensions of nudging have been widely studied, its knowledge management (KM) implications remain underexplored. In particular, little is known about how digital nudges can foster knowledge sharing, collective sense-making, and the anticipation of emerging risks and opportunities within complex organizations and networks.

Foresight, on the other hand, represents a structured approach to envisioning and preparing for possible futures. It is both a mindset and a methodology, enabling organizations to translate early signals into actionable intelligence. When combined with digital nudging, foresight transforms from an abstract exercise into a behaviorally informed practice—one that not only imagines the future but also gently steers decisions and knowledge flows toward desired trajectories. The convergence of these two paradigms opens new pathways for designing ethical, data-driven, and human-centered knowledge ecosystems capable of addressing grand societal challenges.

The contributions in this Special Issue collectively advance three main objectives. First, they theorize the intersection of digital nudging and foresight by developing conceptual frameworks that integrate behavioral insights with KM and innovation theories. Second, they empirically demonstrate how digital nudges and foresight tools—such as trend monitoring, scenario analysis, and early warning systems—can shape organizational resilience, agility, and collaboration. Third, they propose design and governance principles that ensure transparency, inclusivity, and accountability in the deployment of digital foresight nudging systems.

Together, these studies shed light on how organizations can use digital technologies not merely to manage knowledge but to co-create futures. By embedding foresight into digital infrastructures and aligning nudging mechanisms with ethical and strategic goals, knowledge managers and decision-makers can cultivate anticipatory intelligence across all levels of the organization.

Ultimately, this Special Issue invites scholars and practitioners to rethink the role of technology in shaping human and organizational behavior. It emphasizes that the future of knowledge management lies not only in data analytics and automation but also in the subtle art of guiding attention, intention, and imagination—toward wiser, more sustainable futures

List of Topic Areas

• Theoretical foundations and frameworks of digital nudging in knowledge-intensive environments.
• Empirical studies analyzing types of digital nudges (e.g., defaults, social proof, feedback, warnings) impacting knowledge sharing, creation, and dissemination.
• Design and evaluation of digital nudging tools in support of foresight, strategic planning, or early warning systems in KM contexts.
• Ethical, privacy, and transparency considerations of nudging interventions in digital knowledge environments, balancing autonomy and manipulation.
• Integrating AI-powered nudges with foresight practices such as scenario planning, trend monitoring, or emerging issue detection.
• Sector-specific applications (e.g., sustainability, education, healthcare) demonstrating how digital nudging fosters knowledge-based foresight and behavioral change.
• Longitudinal and real-world studies measuring the sustained impact of nudges on foresight capabilities, knowledge use, and organizational outcomes.
• Development of ethical guidelines, design principles, or governance frameworks for digital foresight nudging systems.
• The role of digital nudging in promoting knowledge sharing, collaboration, and engagement in virtual and hybrid workplaces.
• How foresight practices shape organizational resilience, agility, and innovation in uncertain environments.
• The use of gamification and persuasive technologies as nudging mechanisms in knowledge management.
• Intersections between digital nudging, behavioral economics, and decision-making in complex organizational settings.
• Applications of digital nudging in online learning, professional development, and knowledge transfer.
• Foresight-driven approaches for sustainable development and addressing grand societal challenges.
• The role of cultural, social, and demographic factors in the effectiveness of nudging and foresight practices.
• Human-AI collaboration in nudging and foresight systems, and its implications for organizational knowledge strategies.
• Comparative studies of nudging and foresight practices across industries and national contexts.
• Methods and metrics for evaluating the effectiveness and unintended consequences of nudging interventions.
• Future directions for knowledge management at the intersection of foresight, digital ethics, and human-centered design.

Submission Information

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Author guidelines

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Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Dates

Opening date for manuscript submissions: 1 December 2025

Closing date for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026