Data-Driven Sustainability: Harnessing Technology for A Greener Future and Environmental Resilience (World Sustainability Series)

This book provides a timely and insightful exploration of how emerging digital technologies can be leveraged to achieve sustainability and build environmental resilience in the face of escalating global challenges. It offers readers a practical and theoretical foundation for understanding data-driven sustainability, a concept that refers to the integration of advanced data tools—such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain—into environmental planning, policy, and operations. With climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and resource scarcity accelerating at an alarming pace, traditional approaches to sustainability are proving inadequate. The need for real-time data, predictive analytics, intelligent automation, and transparent monitoring has never been more urgent. This book addresses that critical need by illustrating how data-centric technologies can help bridge the gap between sustainability ambitions and tangible action. It explores how big data can transform environmental intelligence, enabling governments, businesses, and communities to track environmental performance in real time, anticipate risks, and intervene proactively. Artificial intelligence is examined as a powerful tool for optimizing resource use, modeling climate scenarios, enabling smart agriculture, and enhancing energy efficiency through learning algorithms and pattern recognition.

Dr. Rubee Singh (Ph.D) is an Assistant Professor of Human Resource Management at the Institute of Business Management, GLA University, India. She is also a Post-Doctoral (D.Litt.) Researcher at Kumaun University, Nainital, India. Dr. Singh earned her Ph.D. in Management from Noida International University, and an MBA in Human Resource Management from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, India. A prolific academic, she has authored and edited over 25 academic books and published more than 100 research papers in reputed journals indexed in SCI, ABDC-A, Scopus, and UGC. Her research excellence is reflected in her Google Scholar citation count exceeding 1800 with an H-index of 25. Her core research interests include Net Zero initiatives, Circular Economy, Digital Circular Economy, Sustainability, Digital HRM, Sustainable HRM, Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence, and Innovation Management. Dr. Singh has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Best Researcher Award (for three consecutive years: 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25) by GLA University, the Iconic Faculty Award (2019), the International Young Researcher Award (2021), and the Young Scientist Award (2020).

Prof. Walter Leal Filho (Ph.D., DSc, DPhil, DTech, DEd, DLitt) is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of Climate Change Management at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany. He also holds professorial appointments at Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom), Uppsala University (Sweden), and Merito University (Poland). He serves as the Director of the Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainability Development and Climate Change Management” in Hamburg, where he leads multiple international initiatives on sustainability, climate change adaptation, and environmental policy.  Prof. Leal’s primary research interests encompass sustainable development, climate change management, and the interlinkages between climate change and public health. He is a highly prolific scholar with over 800 academic publications, including 206 books, 102 book chapters, and more than 500 peer-reviewed journal articles. With an exceptional scholarly impact, Prof. Leal has achieved over 40,000 citations and an H-index of 99 on Google Scholar, underscoring his global recognition as one of the foremost authorities in sustainability and climate science research.

Prof. Vikas Kumar (Ph.D.) is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Previously, he served as the Associate Dean for Research, Innovation, and Enterprise at the Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences, Birmingham City University, UK. He is also a Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management. Prof. Kumar has over a decade of distinguished teaching and research experience. He earned his Ph.D. in Management from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, and completed his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) from the National Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Ranchi (formerly NIFFT), India. He has published more than 350 journal articles and conference papers and has an outstanding research record with over 21,000 citations on Google Scholar and an H-index of 78. Prof. Kumar was recognized among the Top 1% of Highly Cited Researchers in 2024. For the third consecutive year (2022–2024), Stanford University and Elsevier have listed him among the Top 2% of Scientists Globally.