Navigating the Triple Transition: a Holistic Taxonomy Toward a Sustainable and Regenerative Digital Transformation

Digitalization and Sustainability emerge as pivotal forces shaping contemporary society. While their convergence presents remarkable prospects, critical challenges and disconnections persist, necessitating a comprehensive exploration. This study addresses a significant gap in the literature by examining the intricate understanding and assessment of sustainable and regenerative digital transformation, currently navigated independently. Society remains unaware to the potential pitfalls associated with digitalization, often presented as a panacea for unrealistic expectations and green hypocrisy narratives. Despite the transformative potential, systematic interdisciplinary efforts in digital transformation with and for sustainability are deficient. This research advocates for a holistic conception of the enabling and systemic impacts of digital paradigms on society and the environment. Taxonomies have proven instrumental in unravelling intricate sustainability aspects, providing structured frameworks for clearer comprehension and categorization. In addressing extant caveats, our study proposes a taxonomy of key dimensions and topics defining digital transformation with sustainability and regeneration lens, to enabling the triple transition (digital, ecological, and socially just). The methodology encompasses: 1) an in-depth literature review and desk research on the convergence of digitalization and sustainability; 2) qualitative analysis supported by text mining and visualization; 3) forthcoming expert elicitation to refine and validate findings. To our best knowledge, this is the first 360-degree taxonomy covering the hallmarks of sustainable and regenerative digital transformation. The results provide a more holistic understanding of this promising nexus between digital transformation and regenerative sustainability for navigating the triple transition and opening hopeful future research and policy avenues.