Exploring the relationship between digital transformation and sustainable development goals in Slovenian SMEs

Verhovnik, Jurij (author), Stojanova, Simona (author), Cvar, Nina (author), Kos, Andrej (author), Stojmenova Duh, Emilija (author)

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.

• Language: English
• Keywords: 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
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 27 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 18, iss. 14, art. 7200
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-184938
• UDC: 629.331-83
• ISSN on article: 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su18147200
• COBISS.SI-ID: 285277699
• Publication date in RUL: 17.07.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Sustainability
• Shortened title: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2071-1050
• COBISS.SI-ID: 5324897

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: 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)