20.500.12556/RUL-184938 Exploring the relationship between digital transformation and sustainable development goals in Slovenian SMEs Digital transformation is increasingly recognized as an important enabler of sustainable development and competitiveness in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, evidence on how different dimensions of digital transformation relate to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains limited. This study explores the relationship between digital transformation and selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, in which quantitative findings informed the subsequent qualitative exploration and interpretation of managerial perspectives. The quantitative phase combined data from Eurostat’s ICT Usage Survey (2020–2024), including 60 sustainability-related indicators, with an analysis of the relationship between the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and selected SDG indicators across 27 EU member states using Spearman’s rank correlation. The quantitative analysis suggests that Slovenia performs close to the EU average in overall digitalization, while significant associations were identified between digitalization and SDG 9. The qualitative phase consisted of semi-structured interviews with managers from ten Slovenian SMEs from different sectors. The findings indicate that managers perceive digital technologies, process digitalization, data-driven decision-making, and employee digital competencies as important contributors to sustainability-related outcomes, particularly in relation to SDG 8, SDG 9, SDG 12, and SDG 13. The study contributes to the literature on sustainability-oriented digital transformation in SMEs by integrating quantitative benchmarking with managerial perspectives. The findings highlight the importance of organizational capabilities, digital competencies, and strategic alignment in translating digital transformation initiatives into sustainability-related outcomes. The results provide practical implications for SMEs and policymakers seeking to support sustainable and digitally enabled business development. artificial intelligence (AI) sustainable digital transformation (SDT) digital transformation (DT) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Digital Economy Society Index (DESI) SDG Index umetna inteligenca (UI) trajnostna digitalna preobrazba (TDP) digitalna preobrazba (DP) mala in srednje velika podjetja (MSP) cilji trajnostnega razvoja (CTR) informacijsko-komunikacijska tehnologija (IKT) indeks digitalnega gospodarstva in družbe (DESI) indeks ciljev trajnostnega razvoja (SDG Index) true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-07-17 13:26:56 2026-07-17 13:27:08 2026-07-18 04:19:05 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 27 str. iss. 14, art. 7200 Vol. 18 Jul.-2 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 629.331-83 2071-1050 10.3390/su18147200 285277699 sustainability-18-07200-v2.pdf sustainability-18-07200-v2.pdf 1 F3F43D9F9B367F3599DA563AA4EE044A 89c914a203b47835950be05c4d398c269b9668e4afd8b6b468a14c86e42b8b81 594b0933-81d2-11f1-9b0d-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=240373 https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/18/14/7200 1 3ebf1202-81d2-11f1-9b0d-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=240372 Fakulteta za elektrotehniko 0 0 0