Correspondence: nicoletta.corrocher@unibocconi.it

Summary of the Session’s Theme and Objectives

The green and digital transformation has the potential of making countries more resilient and sustainable, while at the same time opening new business opportunities for companies. Nevertheless, there is still not enough overlap in the policy arena of environmental sustainability and digitalization. This is the case of the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) in which the green and digital transitions are addressed in two separate missions. 
The development of the full potential of the green and digital transition will depend on the ability to develop new knowledge and technologies which combine both elements. To foster these research and innovation efforts, it is essential to develop an innovation and technological ecosystem, promoting transdisciplinary research and combining digital and green knowledge that enable transformational change.
Against this backdrop, the special session aims at collecting contributions about how the knowledge base of green and digital technologies develops both at the macro level of countries and at the micro level of firms and sectors. Moreover, it is aimed at understanding how countries and firms can leverage external knowledge sources to develop green digital innovations. 

List of Topics to Be Presented in the Special Session

• The knowledge-base of the green and digital transition
• The relationship between the green and the digital transition across technologies, sectors and countries
• The pre-conditions for successful green and digital transition
• The key knowledge channels for combining different competencies, such as foreign direct investments and international collaborations in co-patenting involving firms and universities and research institutions
• The economic and social consequences of the digital and green transition

Key ReferencesBianchini, S., Damioli, G. and Ghisetti, C., 2023. The environmental effects of the “twin” green and digital transition in European regions. Environmental and Resource Economics, 84(4), pp.877-918.

Bonaglia, D., Lema, R., de Medina, M.M. and Rabellotti, R., 2024. Digital and Green Transitions: Opportunities and Challenges for Europe and China. Reverse Dependency: Making Europe’s Digital Technological Strengths Indispensable to China, pp.184-207.

Diodato, D., Huergo, E., Moncada-Paternò-Castello, P., Rentocchini, F. and Timmermans, B., 2023. Introduction to the special issue on “the twin (digital and green) transition: handling the economic and social challenges”. Industry and Innovation, 30(7), pp.755-765.

Faggian, A., Marzucchi, A. and Montresor, S., 2024. Regions facing the ‘twin transition’: combining regional green and digital innovations. Regional Studies, pp.1-7.

Montresor, S. and Vezzani, A., 2023. Digital technologies and eco-innovation. Evidence of the twin transition from Italian firms. Industry and Innovation, 30(7), pp.766-800.