DIGITAL PLATFORMS, INDUSTRY 4.0, AND REGIONAL ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: RECOVERY PATHWAYS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS FROM THE SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW
Abstract
This study contributes to the growing body of literature on digital platforms, Industry 4.0, and regional economic resilience by systematically examining how digital transformation supports recovery pathways and policy responses in the post-pandemic era. Based on 78 Scopus-indexed documents published between 2020 and 2025, this research combines bibliographic analysis and systematic document review to map publishing trends, document types, influential countries, leading journals, highly cited publications, and thematic structures. The results show a steady increase in academic interest, with the number of publications rising from 1 in 2020 to 25 in 2025. Journal articles dominate the dataset, accounting for 74.4% of total publications, indicating the academic consolidation of this research field. Countries such as France, Australia, Israel, Greece, and Germany contribute significantly to this field, reflecting its international and interdisciplinary nature. Journals of Business Research, Educational Sciences, and Digital Society and Geography emerge as major publishing channels, while highly cited studies focus on remote work, online education, hyperlocal delivery, workplace behaviour, sustainability, marketing, and platform-based services. Thematic analysis identifies six main groups: human-centred digital competency formation; Digital marketing, social media, and sustainable platform-based markets; digitalisation, mobility, and development pathways in emerging contexts; digital innovation, online learning, and innovation efficiency; artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and platform-based crisis governance; and digital capabilities, urban adaptability, and the technological future. These findings demonstrate that regional economic resilience in the digital age is shaped by the interplay between human capabilities, platform-based market coordination, innovation systems, mobility and inclusion, intelligent governance, and place-based adaptation. This research advances a path-based understanding of digital resilience and offers policy implications for building comprehensive, adaptive, and sustainable regional development strategies. Future research should continue to examine regional differences through longitudinal, comparative, and context-specific empirical studies.
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References
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