Digital Transition and Sustainable Development Goals: A Theoretical Reflection on the Impact of I4.0 Technologies

In a paradigm increasingly marked by the emergence and use of new technologies, economic flourishing is no longer enough to fill all of society’s concerns. The three dimensions of sustainability are increasingly in people’s consciousness. In parallel, the United Nations (UN) has launched a set of 17 sustainable development goals that aim to provide a more prosperous future for all societies. Future digital switchover projects should not be blind to this “sustainable” impact. In this sense and given that several works have already appeared that expose the technological benefits considering the 17 UN goals, this work aims to provide a systematization of the main impacts of the most popular emerging technologies on the SDG, to help in the planning of the digitalization processes. Predictive capability by Artificial Intelligence, the ability to connect and provide real-time data, achieved by the Internet of Things, and data security achieved by the Blockchain prove to be advantages in terms of sustainability and can be pillars of support for the digital transition.