Digital technologies (DTs), such as the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, or blockchain, are considered as enablers for a more sustainable and circular economy. So far, literature on these topics has mostly focused on specific DTs and subareas of sustainable product management (SPM). The aim of this paper is to provide a more comprehensive overview of current and potential examples of DT applications in SPM (e.g., product design/assessment, supply chain management, and business models). The collected examples (n = 146) were analyzed based on a systematic literature review, using quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Deductive and inductive analyses of the examples revealed the potential of DTs in terms of their usability along the product life cycle, their role as enablers for circular economy strategies and in specific SPM activities. DT application often entails only incremental improvements, for example, increased efficiency of existing processes, with more radical forms of improvement remaining relatively scarce. There is clear room for greater adoption and optimization of DTs, in various areas of SPM, so as to accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable and circular economy.

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Digital technologies (DTs), such as the internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence or blockchain, are considered as enablers for a more sustainable and circular economy. So far, literature on these topics has mostly focused on specific DTs and sub-areas of sustainable product management (SPM). The aim of this paper is to provide a more comprehensive overview of current and potential examples of DT applications in SPM (e.g., product design/assessment, supply chain management, business models). The collected examples (n=146) were analyzed based on a systematic literature review, using quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Deductive and inductive analyses of the examples revealed the potential of DTs in terms of their useability along the product life cycle, their role as enablers for circular economy strategies and in specific SPM activities. DT application often entails only incremental improvements, e.g., increased efficiency of existing processes, with more radical forms of improvement remaining relatively scarce. There is clear room for greater adoption and optimization of DTs, in various areas of SPM, so as to accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable and circular economy.

Today's linear economic paradigm leads to a situation where products are not designed and used to maximize their sustainability and circularity performance. The circular economy concept proposes a modern framing of value retention strategies by increasing the awareness of their ability to prolong the use of resources and minimize waste. The utilization of product life cycle data, partly facilitated by digital technologies, is not only an enabler for such value retention strategies but also an essential input for sustainable product development processes aimed at minimizing a products' environmental and social impact. However, what strategies are being pursued in practice, what sustainability-related data are available, and how digital technologies can facilitate these processes requires further investigation. In this regard, the contributions of this study are twofold. First, it provides a collection of key aspects for sustainable product development based on a literature review. Second, it reveals the degree of implementation of sustainable product development and value retention strategies and the availability of related data. The latter contribution is derived from a survey with 59 sustainability executives from Austrian companies. The results show that the degree of implementation varies considerably between the different strategies. So far, a focus is set on avoiding toxic substances and closing internal material loops. Digital systems to support a circular economy business model, product, or service are available in less than half of the cases. The implementation of digital technologies is rather a single-case phenomenon than an established business strategy.