The Emergent Role of Digital Technologies in the Circular Economy: A Review

Exploring How Usage-Focused Business Models Enable Circular Economy through Digital Technologies

“…While the enabling role of digital technologies for the servitization of companies has been investigated by previous studies (see, for instance, the work of Ardolino et al [53]), their specific role as enabler for CE has been quite under-investigated to date [5,23].…”

“…Allmendinger and Lombreglia [55], in their seminal paper, have pointed out that the monitoring product status and condition is crucial to this regard. Thus, through IoT, companies may obtain real-time remote monitoring of product usage, status, and location [12,13,23]. Therefore, companies have a great opportunity to gain knowledge on how customers are using products, achieving a closer proximity with them [52], and thus transforming the interactions between manufacturer and their customers from negotiation to communication [12,19,56].…”

“…Big Data are usually defined in literature through the four V's: volume, variety, velocity, and veracity. In fact, they are characterized by (i) a massive amounts of data generated in a continuous way; (ii) unstructured and distinct formats, such as imaging, texting, and so on; (iii) a high data generation frequency; and (iv) a good quality and a direct and proven application [4,23]. As a result, Big Data cannot be analyzed using traditional software or database techniques, since they are too large and change too much rapidly [23].…”

“…In fact, they are characterized by (i) a massive amounts of data generated in a continuous way; (ii) unstructured and distinct formats, such as imaging, texting, and so on; (iii) a high data generation frequency; and (iv) a good quality and a direct and proven application [4,23]. As a result, Big Data cannot be analyzed using traditional software or database techniques, since they are too large and change too much rapidly [23]. Big Data are usually seen in literature as a valid approach to enable a better decision making, if combined with appropriate analytics techniques [23].…”

“…However, the way in which digital technologies favor the transition towards CE has not been analyzed in detail yet [5], and more conceptual and empirical investigation is required in the field [5,23]. To contribute to the building of knowledge on this aspect, this paper focuses on how new digital technologies, such as IoT, Big Data, and analytics act in the deployment of usage-focused BMs to increase resource efficiency, extend product lifespan, and close the loop, i.e., to attain the fundamental CE value drivers recognized in literature [20].…”