The role of digital technologies in supporting the implementation of circular economy practices by industrial small and medium enterprises
通过对10家意大利工业中小企业的半结构化访谈，探索数字技术如何支持循环经济实践的实施，并分析技术间的协同效应，为学术和工业决策者提供参考。
Abstract The adoption of Industry 4.0's digital technologies can enable the implementation of circular economy practices. Nonetheless, current indications for industrial practitioners on how to exploit the broad set of technologies for circular transition appear unclear. This issue is even more challenging for small and medium enterprises, which are typically endowed with more limited resources than larger firms and are characterised by both a digital and circular divide. This present study contributes to the academic debate by offering an exploratory empirical analysis—based on semi‐structured interviews—that involved 10 Italian industrial small and medium enterprises to deepen the knowledge of the supporting role played by digital technologies in implementing circular economy practices by small and medium enterprises, also considering the potential synergies among such technologies. Results are of interest also to industrial decision‐makers, allowing them to exploit their firms' resources towards the adoption of those digital technologies that could be more effective to foster the circular transition.