Research Landscape of Sustainable Development of Digital Talents in the Era of Digital Economy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53469/jerp.2025.07(03).26Keywords:
Digital economy, Digital talent, Sustainable development, Digital transformationAbstract
With the rapid development of global digital technology, digital transformation has become a clear trend in the complex and uncertain development of the current global economy and society, and the sustainable development of digital talents is undoubtedly the core element promoting digital transformation. Based on the literature on digital talent research over the past decade in the Web of Science database and the basic principles and methods of bibliometrics, this paper aims to systematically outline the knowledge graph of global digital talent research and its evolution path. The findings are as follows: Research on digital talents is divided into four stages: germination, preparation, growth, and stability, which generally reflect the urgent need for digital talents in the digital economy during the digitization process, gradually shifting towards a research trend where digital talents enable the sustainable development of the digital economy. Globally, Chinese scholars attach great importance to relevant research on digital talents, with their literature accounting for the highest proportion; ‘Sustainability’ is the most cited publication on digital talent. The research community on digital talents is relatively dispersed, with most scholars in a state of “independent exploration,” and a long-term stable research community has not yet formed. Current research topics focus on three aspects: the training and development of digital talents, the application of big data and artificial intelligence technology in talent management and performance evaluation, and the skill requirements and career development paths of digital talents. For the high-quality development of the digital economy, global research on digital talents tends towards the systematic training, utilization, and management by governments, schools, and enterprises, emphasizing management talents with digital thinking and leadership, as well as the construction of digital talent training models, thereby enabling digital talents to foster the sustainable development of the digital economy.
References
Global Talent Trends for 2024 Available online: https://www.mercer.com.cn/insights/people-strategy/future-of-work/global-talent-trends/ (accessed on 9 August 2024).
Future of Jobs Report: https://www.weforum.org/ publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/digest/(accessed on 30 April 2023).
Jianwei, Z.; Jifang, Z.; Tao, C.; Zhaohui, L.; Qingtuan, L. Exploration of the Innovative Medical Talent Training Based on Problem-Based Learning in Digital Image Processing Teaching. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Technology in Medicine & Education; 2017.
Zhang Y, Zhu Y. [Retracted] Research and Analysis on the Cultivation of Intelligent Transportation Technology Professionals under the Background of Integration of Production and Education [J]. International Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems, 2022, 2022(1): 9622264.
Li, L.; Lin, J.; Turel, O.; Liu, P.; Luo, X.R. The Impact of E-Commerce Capabilities on Agricultural Firms’ Performance Gains: The Mediating Role of Organizational Agility. Industrial Management & Data Systems 2020, ahead-of-print.
Chong-Zheng, S. The Concept of Quality in Higher Education Talent Cultivation in China: Its Evolution and Implications. Tsinghua Journal of Education 2009.
Zhu, W. F.; Zhao, X. M. digital talents and organization development. Publisher: Beijing Electronic Industry Publishing House, China, 2021; pp.19-21.
Kane, G.C.; Palmer, D.; Phillips, A.N.; Kiron, D. Winning the Digital War for Talent. MIT Sloan Management Review 2017, 58, 17–19.
Chatterjee, P.; Nath, A. The Future ICT Education in India – a Pilot Study on the Vision of Ubiquitous Learning in Higher Education. 2015.
Liao, Shiyan.; Zhao, Chunhui.; Chen, Mengzhu.; Yuan, Jing.; Zhou, Ping. Innovative Strategies for Talent Cultivation in New Ventures Under Higher Education. Frontiers in psychology 2022, 13, 843434.
Bhattacharya, S.; Czejdo, B.; Agrawal, R.; Erdemir, E.; Gokaraju, B. Open Source Platforms and Frameworks for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. 2018.
Tsai, I.C.; Wu, H.J.; Liao, C.H.; Yeh, C.H. An Innovative Hybrid Model for Developing Cross Domain ICT Talent in Digital Economy. In Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE); 2018.
Wu, J.; Shi, H.; Yang, J. Are Big Data Talents Different from Business Intelligence Expertise?: Evidence from Text Mining Using Job Recruitment Advertisements. In Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Service Systems and Service Management; June 2017; pp. 1–6.
Huang X, Zhang S, Zhang J, et al. Research on the impact of digital economy on Regional Green Technology Innovation: Moderating effect of digital talent Aggregation [J]. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2023, 30(29): 74409-74425.
Lin, L.-H.; Wang, K.-J. Talent Retention of New Generations for Sustainable Employment Relationships in Work 4.0 Era—Assessment by Fuzzy Delphi Method. Sustainability 2022, 14, 11535.
Chen L, Zhang L, Yang Y, et al. IIoT talent cultivating mechanism in line with industrial Internet [J]. Procedia Computer Science, 2022, 199: 377-383.
Chen, L. Practice on the Sustainable Development of Talent Cultivation Mode in the Context of Big Data. In Proceedings of the Cyber Security Intelligence and Analytics; Xu, Z., Choo, K.-K.R., Dehghantanha, A., Parizi, R., Hammoudeh, M., Eds.; Springer International Publishing: Cham, 2020; pp. 682–691.
Zhang X, Wei X, Ou C X J, et al. From human-AI confrontation to human-AI symbiosis in society 5.0: Transformation challenges and mechanisms [J]. IT Professional, 2022, 24(3): 43-51.
Mossberger, K.; Tolbert, C.J.; Stansbury, M. Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide. Online Information Review 2003, 28, 4–7.
Gray, J. Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide. Journal of Economic Issues 2004, 38, 294–296.
Brandtzæg P B, Heim J, Karahasanović A. Understanding the new digital divide—A typology of Internet users in Europe [J]. International journal of human-computer studies, 2011, 69(3): 123-138.
Fensel D, Şimşek U, Angele K, et al. Introduction: what is a knowledge graph? [J]. Knowledge graphs: Methodology, tools and selected use cases, 2020: 1-10.
Hao X, Ji Z, Li X, et al. Construction and application of a knowledge graph [J]. Remote Sensing, 2021, 13(13): 2511.
Tian L, Zhou X, Wu Y P, et al. Knowledge graph and knowledge reasoning: A systematic review [J]. Journal of Electronic Science and Technology, 2022, 20(2): 100159.
Sedighi M. Application of word co-occurrence analysis method in mapping of the scientific fields (case study: the field of Informetrics) [J]. Library Review, 2016, 65(1/2): 52-64.
Bhuyan A, Sanguri K, Sharma H. Improving the keyword co-occurrence analysis: An integrated semantic similarity approach [C]//2021 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM). IEEE, 2021: 482-487.
Munan. An exploration to visualise the emerging trends of technology foresight based on an improved technique of co-word analysis and relevant literature data of WOS [J]. Technology analysis & strategic management, 2017.
Van Eck N, Waltman L. Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping [J]. scientometrics, 2010, 84(2): 523-538.
Van Eck N J, Waltman L. Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer [J]. Scientometrics, 2017, 111(2):1053-1070.
Ordua-Malea E, Costas R. Link-based approach to study scientific software usage: the case of VOSviewer [J]. Scientometrics, 2021.
Ebert L C, Thali M J, Ross S. Getting in touch—3D printing in Forensic Imaging [J]. Forensic Science International, 2011, 211(1-3):e1-e6.
Ladd C, Ju‐Hee So, Muth J, et al.3D Printing of Free Standing Liquid Metal Microstructures [J]. Advanced Materials, 2013, 25(36).
Saas B. Technology Strategy and Management Cloud Computing and SaaS as New Computing Platforms [J]. Communications of the ACM, 2010(4):53.
Khalidi Y. Building a Cloud Computing Platform for New Possibilities [J]. Computer, 2011, 44(3):29-34.
Prodan R, Sperk M, Ostermann S. Evaluating High-Performance Computing on Google App Engine [J]. IEEE Software, 2012, 29(2):52-58.
Russakovsky O, Deng J, Su H, et al. ImageNet Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge [J].International Journal of Computer Vision, 2015, 115(3):211-252.
Chen C L P, Zhang C Y. Data-intensive applications, challenges, techniques and technologies: A survey on Big Data [J]. Information Sciences, 2014.
Chatterjee P, Nath A.The Future ICT Education in India – a Pilot Study on the Vision of Ubiquitous Learning in Higher Education [J]. 2015.
Liu X, Zhang H, Bian K, et al. Meta-Backscatter: A New ISAC Paradigm for Battery-Free Internet of Things [J].IEEE Communications Magazine, 62 [2024-09-14].
Ray P P. A survey on Internet of Things architectures [J]. Journal of King Saud University-Computer and Information Sciences, 2018, 30(3): 291-319.
Ng I C L, Wakenshaw S Y L. The Internet-of-Things: Review and research directions [J]. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2017, 34(1): 3-21.
Munafo J, Diedrick M, Stoffregen T A.The virtual reality head-mounted display Oculus Rift induces motion sickness and is sexist in its effects [J].Experimental Brain Research, 2017, 235(3):889-901.
Niehorster D C, Li L, Lappe M.The Accuracy and Precision of Position and Orientation Tracking in the HTC Vive Virtual Reality System for Scientific Research [J].i-Perception, 2017, 8(3):204166951770820.
Furlan, Rod. The future of augmented reality: Hololens - Microsoft’s AR headset shines despite rough edges [Resources_Tools and Toys] [J]. IEEE Spectrum, 2016, 53(6):21-21.
Chen Y C, Wu H J, Wang C P, et al. Applying Blockchain Technology to Develop Cross-Domain Digital Talent [C]//2019 IEEE 11th International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED).IEEE, 2019.
Ilieva L, Bencheva N. Planning the Attraction and Retention of Young ICT Talents [C]//2022 31st Annual Conference of the European Association for Education in Electrical and Information Engineering (EAEEIE). IEEE, 2022: 1-5.
Treviño-Elizondo B L, García-Reyes H. An Employee Competency Development Maturity Model for Industry 4.0 Adoption [J]. Sustainability, 2023, 15(14): 11371.
Aziz A A, Abdulkarim I, Jusoh J A. A review of supply and demand digital talents in Malaysia [C]//International Conference on Business and Technology. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021: 721-738.
Ausloos, M. A scientometrics law about co-authors and their ranking. The co-author core [J]. Scientometrics, 2013, 95(3).
Wang F, Qiu J, Yu H. Research on the cross-citation relationship of core authors in scientometrics [J]. Scientometrics, 2012, 91(3):1011-1033.
Tsai I C, Wu H J, Liao C H, et al. An innovative hybrid model for developing cross domain ICT talent in digital economy [C]//2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE). IEEE, 2018: 745-750.
Tu Y L, Chen Y C, Wu H J, et al. Developing a Curriculum Learning Map for Cultivating Cross-domain Digital Talent [C]//2019 IEEE 11th International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED). IEEE, 2019: 210-215.
Chen Y C, Wu H J, Wang C P, et al. Applying Blockchain Technology to Develop Cross-Domain Digital Talent [C]//2019 IEEE 11th International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED).IEEE, 2019.
Ahmad T, Zhu H, Zhang D, et al. Energetics Systems and artificial intelligence: Applications of industry 4.0 [J]. Energy Reports, 2022.
Peres R S, Jia X, Lee J, et al. Industrial Artificial Intelligence in Industry 4.0 - Systematic Review, Challenges and Outlook [J]. IEEE Access, 2020, 8.
Cheng H, Ruan P, Wang P. The impact of surging computing power on enterprise digital transformation–Based on quasi-natural experiments set up by the National Supercomputing Center [J].Finance Research Letters, 2024, 65.
Sun Z Y, Li J M, Li B, et al. Digital leadership and deviant innovation: the roles of innovation self-efficacy and employee ambitions [J]. Current Psychology, 2024, 43(26):22226-22237.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Liyao Ren, Jianxin Wu, Yi Wang

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.