Corresponding Manager: Vincenzo Varriale (vvarriale@unisa.it)
Track Manager(s): Vincenzo Varriale, Antonello Cammarano, Francesco Fasano, Francesca Michelino, Francesco Cappa
Description
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping how organizations create value, manage knowledge, and govern socio-technical systems. Yet its adoption remains uneven, often hindered by the difficulty of aligning technological potential with human, ethical, and institutional realities. Within the emerging paradigm of Industry 5.0, AI moves beyond automation toward human-centric innovation, emphasizing augmentation, ethical alignment, and cognitive collaboration between humans and smart systems. The critical success factors of AI adoption thus lie in the ability to balance human cognition, organizational culture, and digital infrastructures within coherent governance frameworks that ensure transparency, trust, and accountability. At the same time, the convergence of AI, Big Data and Web 3.0 provides the enabling architecture for intelligent, decentralized, and trustworthy ecosystems. However, their transformative potential depends on data quality, interoperability, and ethical stewardship. Effective AI governance must therefore integrate technological, human, and institutional dimensions to guarantee responsible innovation and value co-creation.
This track invites theoretical and empirical contributions exploring:
Socio-technical and human factors enabling successful AI integration;
Governance models balancing AI innovation and ethics;
The role of AI, Big Data and Web 3.0 in fostering transparency and collaborative intelligence;
Knowledge management theories for AI;
Contributions addressing cross-sectoral case studies, methodological frameworks, and policy implications are particularly welcome, as they can illuminate pathways toward sustainable, human-centered digital transformation and resilient knowledge ecosystems.
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Web 3.0; Knowledge management; Human-Machine interaction
Key References
Acciarini, C., Cappa, F., Di Costanzo, G., Prisco, M., Sardo, F., Stazzone, A. and Stoto, C. (2023), “Blockchain technology to protect label information: The effects on purchase intentions in the food industry”, Computers & Industrial Engineering, Vol. 180, p. 109276, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2023.109276.
Bartoli, C., Fasano, F., Cappa, F. and Boccardelli, P. (2025), “Opportunities and Challenges in the Metaverse and NFTs for Business Model Innovation: A Managerial Point of View”, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 72, pp. 1685–1698, doi: 10.1109/TEM.2025.3560910.
Carayannis, E.G., Canestrino, R. and Magliocca, P. (2024), “From the Dark Side of Industry 4.0 to Society 5.0: Looking ‘Beyond the Box’ to Developing Human-Centric Innovation Ecosystems”, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., Vol. 71, pp. 6695–6711, doi: 10.1109/TEM.2023.3239552.
Fasano, F., Bartoli, C., Cappa, F. and Boccardelli, P. (2025), “Exploring the impact of AI on Web3 decentralized platform business model innovation”, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Vol. 78, p. 101911, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jengtecman.2025.101911.
Ghosh, A., Lavanya, Hassija, V., Chamola, V. and Saddik, A. El. (2024), “A Survey on Decentralized Metaverse Using Blockchain and Web 3.0 Technologies, Applications, and More”, IEEE Access, Vol. 12, pp. 146915–146948, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3469193.
Jin, S.V. and Ryu, E. (2025), “Unraveling the dynamics of digital equality and trust in AI-empowered metaverses and AI-VR-convergence”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier Inc., Vol. 210, doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123877.
Leng, J., Zhu, X., Huang, Z., Li, X., Zheng, P., Zhou, X., Mourtzis, D., et al. (2024), “Unlocking the power of industrial artificial intelligence towards Industry 5.0: Insights, pathways, and challenges”, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Elsevier B.V., 1 April, doi: 10.1016/j.jmsy.2024.02.010.
Mancuso, I., Petruzzelli, A.M., Panniello, U. and Vaia, G. (2025), “The bright and dark sides of AI innovation for sustainable development: Understanding the paradoxical tension between value creation and value destruction”, Technovation, Vol. 143, p. 103232, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103232.
Rožanec, J.M., Novalija, I., Zajec, P., Kenda, K., Tavakoli Ghinani, H., Suh, S., Veliou, E., et al. (2023), “Human-centric artificial intelligence architecture for industry 5.0 applications”, International Journal of Production Research, Taylor and Francis Ltd., Vol. 61 No. 20, pp. 6847–6872, doi: 10.1080/00207543.2022.2138611.
Tiron-Tudor, A., Labaditis (Cordos), A. and Deliu, D. (2025), “Future-Ready Digital Skills in the AI Era: Bridging Market Demands and Student Expectations in the Accounting Profession”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier Inc., Vol. 215, doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124105.
Valtonen, A., Saunila, M., Ukko, J., Treve