📌 ICETT2025’s conference proceedings were published through the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This underlines the international standing and scholarly credibility of this conference.
📌 All accepted papers will be peer-reviewed, presented during the conference and published via ICETT’s 2026 Conference Proceedings. They will be indexed by EI Compendex and Scopus, among other recognised academic databases.
Conference topics include (but are not limited to):
E-learning and online learning
Game-based learning
Learning analytics and education big data
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
Mobile & ubiquitous learning
Online platforms and environments
Open educational resources
Podcasting and broadcasting
Social media for teaching and learning
Virtual reality for teaching and learning
 The papers’ submission deadline is the 20th of December, 2025.
I am delighted to share this call for papers for the European Academy of Management’s (EURAM2026’s) SIG01: Business for Society (B4S).
My colleagues, Mario Tani, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; Gianpaolo Basile, Università Telematica Universitas Mercatorum, Rome, Italy; Ciro Troise, University of Turin, Turin, Italy; Maria Palazzo, Università Telematica Universitas Mercatorum, Rome, Italy; Asha Thomas, WrocÅ‚aw University of Science and Technology AND I, are guest editing a track entitled: “Relationships, Values, and Community-driven (Social) Innovation in Collaborative Ecosystems” (T01-14).
We are inviting conceptual, empirical and methodological papers on the interplay between open innovation, digital platforms and the power of the crowd in navigating today’s grand challenges.
“This track explores the strategic shift from firm-centric models to dynamic, collaborative ecosystems. We examine how deep stakeholder engagement, shared values, and community-driven innovation can generate sustainable economic, social, and environmental value”.
Further details about this conference track are available here: https://lnkd.in/djN8KpDw [T01-14].
Keywords: EURAM2026; Business For Society B4S; Collaborative Ecosystems; Open Innovation Community Driven Innovation; Stakeholder Engagement; Digital; Digital Platforms; Digital Transformation; Crowdsourcing; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); UNSDGs; SDG9 [Industry, Innovation And Infrastructure]; SDG11 [Sustainable Cities And Communities]; SDG12 [Responsible Consumption And Production]; SDG17 [Partnerships For The Goals].
I have just returned back to base after a productive two-day foreign expert meeting.
Once again, it was a positive experience to connect with European academic colleagues, to review and discuss research proposals worth thousands of Euros.
My big congratulations go to the successful scholars who passed the shortlisting phase, based on our evaluation scores.
The best proposals will eventually receive national government funds for transformative projects that will add value to society and the natural environment.
Pleased to share that I have recently coauthored an open-access article about the growth hacking capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It has been published in collaboration with my Italian colleagues from the University of Turin, via the Journal of Business Research.
Our research confirms that SMEs can leverage their growth potential through return-generating investments in disruptive innovations and by harnessing big data analytics. In sum, it suggests that core competencies, resources, and capabilities in these areas, can enhance the SMEs’ financial and operational performance.
Suggested citation: Giordino, D., Troise, C., Bresciani, S. & Camilleri, M.A. (2025). Growth hacking capability: Antecedents and performance implications in the context of SMEs, Journal of Business Research, 192, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115288Â
Featuring snippets from one of my coauthored articles on the intersection of technology adoption and sustainable development.
Suggested citation: Cricelli, L., Mauriello, R., Strazzullo, S. & Camilleri, M.A. (2024). Assessing the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on the social sustainability of agrifood companies, Business Strategy and the Environment, https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3874
Abstract: Industry 4.0 technologies present new opportunities for the sustainable development of companies in the agrifood industry. The extant literature on this topic suggests that innovative technologies can support agrifood companies in addressing environmental, economic, and social sustainability issues. While the environmental and economic benefits of technological innovations in the agrifood industry have been widely investigated, few studies sought to explore the impact of the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies on long-standing social issues. This research addresses this knowledge gap, The data were gathered from 116 Italian agrifood companies that utilized Industry 4.0 technologies. The findings from structural equations modelling partial least squares (SEM-PLS) show that adopting Industry 4.0 technologies helps agrifood companies to improve human resources management, supply chain management, and stakeholder relationships. Finally, this contribution puts forward implications for practitioners, as it raises awareness on the benefits of using technological innovations to promote social sustainability outcomes.
This figure illustrates the model underlying the research hypotheses of this contribution.
An excerpt from the conclusion: recent studies suggest that the adoption of I.40 technologies may have significant social implications for agrifood companies, affecting labour management, supply chain accountability, and relationships with key stakeholders, including governments and consumers (Chandan et al., 2023; Prause, 2021; Rijswijk et al., 2021). Despite this, available literature focuses on the relationship between environmental and economic benefits, while social sustainability implications are currently underinvestigated, especially from an empirical perspective.
This study aimed to help bridge this gap by providing evidence of the impact of I4.0 technologies on the social sustainability of companies in the agrifood industry. To this end, we use data from 116 Italian agrifood companies to validate a theoretical model explaining how the adoption of I4.0 technologies influences the social sustainability of agrifood companies. Specifically, this study focuses on agrifood companies performing cultivation activities, which face unique and relevant social sustainability challenges related to labour, supply chain, and stakeholders’ management. Also, by including companies cultivating a variety of product categories, this study provides some valuable theoretical and practical contributions.
From a theoretical perspective, this study offers two main contributions. First, it validates a conceptual model assessing the impact of I4.0 technologies on the social sustainability of agrifood companies. This advances the literature by providing a framework that can guide future studies on the social implications of technological innovation in the agrifood industry. Second, this study is one of the few to provide empirical evidence of the impact of I4.0 technologies on different aspects of the social sustainability of agrifood companies. This helps explain how technological innovation may influence social sustainability in the agrifood industry and identify further research opportunities. Results show that the development of I4.0 technological skills has a positive impact on all three dimensions of social sustainability. This is consistent with recent literature suggesting that the adoption of I4.0 technologies promotes the development of managerial skills, shifting the role of agricultural workers from executors to decision-makers. Furthermore, the development of I4.0 technological skills enables the use of advanced solutions, which can support operators in the execution of physically demanding tasks (Alves et al., 2023; Lioutas et al., 2021). I4.0 technological skills also positively affect the sustainable management of the supply chain and stakeholder relations, although the reasons are currently under-investigated.
Finally, the results highlight the complexity of the relationship between I4.0 technological strategy and social sustainability. The results reveal a negative relationship between I4.0 technological strategy and sustainable stakeholders’ management, somewhat contradicting recent studies suggesting that an adequate technological innovation strategy is a crucial stepping stone in assisting agrifood companies regain the trust of consumers and society. Advancing an explanation, we hypothesize that the adoption of I4.0 absorbs resources and attention that could have been otherwise directed to address stakeholders’ demands. Finally, a positive relationship was found between I4.0 technological maturity and human resources management, confirming that I4.0 technologies may help companies create healthier work environments, in combination with the development of I4.0 technological skills.
As for practical implications, this study can help managers of these companies analyse and reap the social benefits of adopting I4.0 technologies. Findings show that the introduction of innovative technologies represents a significant opportunity to develop employees’ skills and improve the quality of working conditions, balancing the workloads of field operators. Automation could effectively support cultivation activities, while the use of predictive models could reduce the impact of unpredictable natural factors. Moreover, acquiring advanced and transversal technological skills could provide benefits that go beyond the management of cultivation activities. The use of data provided by modern information systems could simplify communication and coordination with partners and enhance supply chain security, with positive effects on the relationships with stakeholders, including governments and consumers.
Finally, the results suggest managers carefully assess how the company’s I4.0 technological strategy and maturity affect the various dimensions of social sustainability. The findings warn about the risk of focusing exclusively on the company’s needs and losing sight of the interests of supply chain partners and external stakeholders. Despite its contributions, this work is not exempt from limitations. Concerning the sample, this study is based on data obtained from companies operating in specific stages of the Italian agrifood industry. In particular, the study focuses on companies performing cultivation activities in a highly industrialized context. Thus, while adequate to the scope of the study, the sample has limitations. First, it does not include companies that perform product processing and distribution activities. Companies in the meat industry are also excluded. This affects the generalizability of the results, as the study does not provide information on the advantages that I4.0 technologies can offer to such companies.
Furthermore, by focusing on a single country, the study does not account for socioeconomic factors that might affect the results. Future studies can extend the analysis by carrying out crosscountry investigations or by focusing on different geographic areas. Another limitation of the study concerns the use of sociodemographic variables. While providing useful information to outline the profile of the respondents and validate the information sources, the available observations prevented us from capturing any differences in the perceptions of respondents based on variables such as gender or age. Future contributions could focus on assessing how sociodemographic variables mediate individuals’ perception of the impact of I4.0 technologies on the social sustainability of agrifood companies.
In conclusion, we reflect on possible limitations in the theoretical model. Specifically, the absence of previous studies investigating the impact of I4.0 technologies on the social sustainability of agrifood leads to a lack of established metrics and indicators. In this study, we address this shortcoming by referencing established theories such as the RBV to model the technological capability of the company, and the literature on CSR to investigate the multiple facets of social sustainability in the agrifood industry. Despite our efforts to identify all relevant variables, this may have caused us to overlook some important factors. Thus, we elicit future research to extend the analysis and provide additional elements to our framework. Lastly, we point out that this study investigates the impact of I4.0 technologies on the social sustainability of agrifood companies holistically. Therefore, future contributions could obtain different results by focusing on individual technologies or specific applications.
Substantia Mea 
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