🤖 AI Summary
This study addresses the urgent need for multinational enterprises to align digital efficiency with environmental responsibility amid concurrent green and digital transitions. Integrating Technology Roadmapping (TRM) with the ITU ICT Innovation Ecosystem Toolkit, and complemented by bibliometric analysis and a stakeholder canvas, the authors develop a sociotechnical framework tailored to dual transformation. They propose a novel “sustainable intelligence” paradigm, positioning Global Business Services (GBS) as an operational airlock that bridges macro-level policy pressures and micro-level AI-native workflows. The research further highlights the potential of “intermediate power” hubs—such as Poland, Portugal, and Malaysia—to offer a “third way” within global value chains. The resulting data-driven design approach advances practical pathways for Industry 5.0 in a multipolar digital economy, facilitating coordinated flows of talent and supply chains.
📝 Abstract
Global Business Services (GBS) have emerged as a "living laboratory" for the Twin Transition of Green and Digital Transformation, as multinational corporations (MNCs) face increasing pressure to harmonize digital efficiency with environmental stewardship. Aiming to derive a socio-technical framework, this paper synthesizes Technology Roadmapping (TRM) with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT-centric innovation ecosystem toolkit. A bibliometric analysis of research clusters reveals an evolutionary shift from basic process automation toward "Sustainable Intelligence," identifying the GBS unit as a central "operational airlock" that mediates between landscape pressures -- such as the EU's dual mandate and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms -- and niche innovations in AI-native workflows. The study further maps these clusters onto a stakeholder engagement canvas, highlighting how resilient "Middle Power" hubs in Poland, Portugal, and Malaysia are bypassing the middle-income trap to provide a "third way" for global value chains amidst a bifurcated geopolitical cloud. The results offer a data-driven design approach for leaders and entrepreneurial support networks to orchestrate talent and supply chain flows, thereby enriching the conceptual understanding of Industry 5.0 and the role of GBS as a primary mechanism for navigating a volatile, multipolar digital economy.