Harnessing Technological Innovation for Managing Volatility and Advancing Sustainable and Regenerative Supply Chains

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Introduction

Global supply chains are experiencing increasing volatility due to climate change, resource scarcity, geopolitical instability, pandemics, and growing stakeholder expectations for ethical, sustainable and regenerative business practices. These challenges have encouraged organisations to reconsider traditional supply chain strategies and position sustainability and resilience as strategic priorities rather than operational considerations (Beske & Seuring, 2014; Brandenburg et al., 2014).

At the same time, rapid advancements in digital and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, and advanced analytics, are transforming supply chain design, governance, and management. These technologies provide enhanced visibility, predictive capabilities, and data-driven decision-making, which are increasingly important for managing disruptions and improving environmental and social performance (Baryannis et al., 2019; Queiroz et al., 2020).

While sustainability and resilience have traditionally been viewed as distinct yet interconnected capabilities, digital technologies increasingly enable their integration. Technology-enabled sustainability can reduce systemic risks through decarbonisation, resource efficiency, and responsible sourcing, whereas technology-enabled resilience enhances the ability of supply chains to anticipate, absorb, and recover from disruptions. Integrating digital innovation into sustainable and resilient supply chain strategies can therefore support competitive advantage and long-term value creation (Bag et al., 2025).

Technological innovation is particularly critical as supply chains face disruptions from climate change, geopolitical conflicts, pandemics, cyber risks, and increasing regulatory demands for sustainability and transparency (Agrawal et al., 2024; Ivanov & Dolgui, 2021; Lerman et al., 2022; Schilling & Seuring, 2022). Despite growing research interest, significant theoretical and empirical gaps remain. Existing studies have largely focused on operational efficiency and performance outcomes, providing limited understanding of how digital technologies influence environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and regenerative practices in supply chains. Further investigation is needed into when and how these technologies support or constrain sustainability outcomes, considering contextual factors such as institutional environments, digital capability disparities, and geopolitical dynamics. Emerging issues, including circular economy transitions, techno-nationalism, and sovereign artificial intelligence, also introduce new governance and ethical challenges that remain underexplored in logistics and supply chain research.

Advancing this field requires new theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence to explain how technology driven supply chain transformation enables resilience and sustainability amid complex environmental, social, and economic disruptions (Ivanov & Dolgui, 2021; Wichmann et al., 2023).

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Logistics Management aims to advance theory and practice by critically examining how digital and emerging technologies enable or constrain resilient, sustainable and regenerative supply chain strategies. The Guest Editors invite high quality conceptual, empirical, and methodological contributions that provide novel theoretical insights and actionable implications for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

List of Topic Areas

• Emerging digital technologies (e.g., AI, IoT, blockchain) for sustainability and resilience in supply chain management
• Data-driven decarbonisation strategies and emissions transparency in logistics management
• Digital enablers of circular supply chains, reverse logistics, and closed-loop systems
• Digital transformation, resilience, and sustainable supply chain risk management
• Technology-enabled supply chain resilience capabilities and competitive advantage
• Blockchain-based traceability, transparency, and ethical sourcing in supply chain management
• Digital product passports and lifecycle data integration
• Governance, ethics, data integrity, and cybersecurity in digital supply chain management
• Institutional and regulatory influences on technology-led sustainability initiatives in supply chain management
• Digital platforms for supplier sustainability assessment and collaboration
• Techno-nationalism, sovereign AI, and implications for managing global supply chains
• Theoretical perspectives on technology-sustainability-resilience linkages in supply chain management
• Integrating theory and practice in technology-led regenerative practices in supply chains.

Guest Editors 

Md Maruf Hossan Chowdhury; University of Technology Sydney, Australia, maruf.chowdhury@uts.edu.au

Shahriar Akter; University of Wollongong, Australia, sakter@uow.edu.au

Mohammad Alamgir Hossain; RMIT University, Australia, mohammad.hossain@rmit.edu.au

Kristijan Mirkovski; Deakin University, Australia, k.mirkovski@deakin.edu.au

Submissions Information

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Author Guidelines

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”. 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 Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 15th September 2026

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 15th March 2027