In the rapidly evolving landscape of commerce and technology, digital business has emerged as a pivotal subject of academic inquiry and practical transformation. Recent comprehensive research offers an unprecedented scientometric analysis, tracing the trajectory of digital business studies from inception through 2022. Employing advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, this investigation synthesizes over ten thousand scholarly articles into a coherent map of the field’s evolution, revealing deep insights about its core themes and future directions. The ambitious scope of the study and its rigorous methodology mark a significant advancement in understanding how businesses globally adapt to the pervasive influence of digitalization.
At the heart of this scholarly synthesis lies the recognition of four distinct yet intertwined clusters that define the digital business domain. Each cluster embodies a unique constellation of keywords and intellectual currents, elucidating the varied dimensions through which digital transformation permeates industries, consumer markets, political systems, and everyday life. The first cluster delves into digital transformation vis-à-vis sustainable business model innovation. This dimension underscores how Industry 4.0 technologies and strategic organizational shifts drive not only efficiency and productivity but also sustainability, contributing directly to global development goals. The analysis situates digital transformation as a catalyst for reimagining how businesses create value with an environmental and social conscience.
The notion of sustainability as rendered in this research is far from superficial. It involves an intricate interplay of strategy, management, skills, and innovation, highlighting the flexibility businesses must embody to thrive in an increasingly digitized and environmentally conscious economy. Enabling technologies such as IoT, automation, and data analytics become enablers of reducing operational waste and emissions. More than a technological upgrade, digital transformation is framed here as a comprehensive organizational metamorphosis that aligns profit motives with broader societal imperatives. The study’s findings highlight the potential for technology-enabled frameworks to generate economic performance without compromising future generations.
In contrast, the second cluster centers on e-commerce, consumer behavior, and the nuanced implications of digitalization for inequality. While digital platforms have democratized access to goods and services, the benefits are far from universally distributed. This cluster exposes the digital fault lines that persist among demographic groups and geographic regions, especially affecting the elderly and populations in developing countries. The keywords emphasize the importance of usability, risk management, and quality control to ensure that digital advancements do not exacerbate existing social disparities but rather cultivate inclusivity.
This dimension reveals a dual-edged reality of digital commerce: while it enhances convenience and market reach, it also demands vigilant attention to accessibility issues. The digital divide remains a pressing challenge, requiring both technological and policy interventions. The study’s expanded view on consumer behavior underscores the critical need for platforms to address barriers relating to digital literacy and infrastructure to ensure equitable participation in the digital economy. The findings suggest that addressing these disparities is a prerequisite for unlocking the full potential of e-commerce as a force for social equity.
A third cluster moves the discussion into the political and economic realms, focusing on emerging technologies and their broader governance implications. The rise of AI, blockchain, and automation ushers in complex challenges for regulatory frameworks and democratic institutions. The investigation into this cluster reveals that technological innovation necessitates adaptive governance models to balance the imperatives of transparency, accountability, and innovation. European regulatory environments emerge as exemplars in this space, demonstrating pragmatic approaches to fostering technological advancements while safeguarding public interests.
This cluster addresses the critical tension between rapid technological progress and the need to manage its socio-political impacts. It highlights the importance of regulatory foresight and multidisciplinary collaboration in crafting policies that prevent technological disruptions from undermining democratic processes or entrenching social inequalities. The nexus of data analysis, regulatory governance, and political economy illustrates the extensive reach of digitalization beyond traditional business boundaries, emphasizing how digital transformation reshapes the very institutions underpinning society.
Beyond these structural and systemic concerns, the fourth cluster situates digitalization firmly within the fabric of everyday life. It documents sweeping changes in work environments, healthcare, transportation, and education, brought about by pervasive digital technologies like AI, big data, and the Internet of Things. These innovations have transformed service delivery and user experience, offering unprecedented opportunities to enhance quality of life. Telemedicine and data-driven treatment plans revolutionize healthcare, whereas digital learning platforms expand educational access, underscoring the broad societal potential of digital transformation.
Nonetheless, the research does not shy away from identifying accompanying challenges. Issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity, and the digital divide stand as critical barriers to fully realizing the benefits of digitalization in everyday contexts. Educational disparities in digital literacy and unequal infrastructural development exacerbate these concerns, risking the exclusion of vulnerable populations from digitally enabled services. The study advocates for inclusive design principles and policies that promote equitable access, ensuring that technological progress uplifts rather than marginalizes.
Interweaving these clusters, the research presents a cohesive synthesis of how digital transformation interrelates across sustainability, inequality, governance, and life domains. Digital transformation’s role in fostering sustainable business practices also contributes to addressing inequalities by lowering operational costs and improving service accessibility. Likewise, robust governance structures are necessary to navigate the complexities introduced by emerging technologies and to mitigate their disparate societal impacts. These interconnected dynamics collectively shape how digitalization redefines economic, social, and political landscapes in profound and lasting ways.
The temporal analysis within the study identifies three pivotal epochs shaping digital business: the dot-com bubble, the Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic period. Each crisis precipitated waves of technological adoption and conceptual innovation, pushing companies to rapidly adjust their digital capabilities. This observation emphasizes how external shocks act as catalysts, triggering market-wide transformations in technology use and business models. These patterns reveal an inherent adaptability within firms and industries, where crises serve as inflection points accelerating digital transformation trajectories.
Such insights have particular relevance for developing countries, where the demand side’s digitalization pressures firms to upgrade technologies to remain competitive. The research identifies a cyclical nature of external shocks accelerating technological diffusion, demonstrating that crises can be leveraged strategically to promote digital advancement. The study also suggests that the future of work, shaped by new technological paradigms, represents a critical emerging frontier that warrants detailed scrutiny to understand its implications for labor markets and economic inclusion.
However, the study also acknowledges its limitations. The reliance on only two major academic databases and the selection criteria that favored articles with multiple key terms may have excluded some relevant scholarship, potentially narrowing the conceptual scope. Time constraints further limited the breadth of the analysis. The authors propose future research to incorporate a broader array of databases and to refine scientometric methodologies to capture a richer and more diverse corpus of digital business literature, which would enhance the robustness of future conceptual mappings.
Looking forward, the study pinpoints essential gaps and underexplored avenues in digital business research. Notably, it calls for intensified exploration of how emergent technologies reshape labor structures and the future of work. The acceleration of digital adoption induced by the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgency of understanding the long-term consequences of these transformations. This research lays out a strategic framework for subsequent studies, encouraging integrative approaches that link technological innovation with sustainability and inclusion.
By traversing the intricate interdependencies among digital transformation, social equity, political governance, and daily life impact, this comprehensive analysis offers a blueprint for academics and practitioners alike. It underscores the transformative power of digital business in reshaping societies and economies, balanced by the imperative to manage risks responsibly and foster inclusive growth. As the digital business landscape continues to evolve, the findings serve as both a map and a compass guiding future research and policy-making endeavors.
This study’s application of neural network algorithms to analyze vast scholarly literature marks a pioneering methodological contribution, demonstrating how AI can illuminate complex intellectual terrains. The approach enhances replicability and transparency, setting a precedent for future scientometric investigations. As digitalization accelerates, such rigorous analytic tools are indispensable for distilling insights and guiding strategic decisions in a rapidly changing business environment.
In synthesis, the research confirms that digital business is not a monolithic phenomenon but rather a multifaceted process influenced by technology, strategy, governance, and societal forces. Sustainable innovation, equitable access, adaptive regulation, and everyday applicability form the pillars of this evolving field. Recognizing their interplay enables a holistic comprehension of digital business’s transformative dynamics and paves the way toward equitable, resilient, and thriving digital economies of the future.
Subject of Research: Trends and thematic clusters in digital business research, including digital transformation, sustainability, inequality, governance, and the impact on everyday life.
Article Title: Mapping trends in digital business research: from bit transformation to sustainable data-centric enterprises.
Article References:
Rodriguez-Vasquez, J.G., Cea D’Ancona, F., Bolanos-Burgos, F. et al. Mapping trends in digital business research: from bit transformation to sustainable data-centric enterprises.
Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1005 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05082-6
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