The Humanistic Cycle of Sustainable Empowerment: Integrating Smart Technology, Cross-Sectoral Synergy, and Digital Social Justice for Sustainable Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36423/jec.v8i2.2563Abstract
In the era of rapid digital transformation, sustainable development demands more than technological innovation or institutional reform—it requires a humanistic consciousness that harmonizes knowledge, ethics, and collective empowerment. This study explores how smart technology, cross-sectoral collaboration, and digital social justice shape sustainable community empowerment in Indonesia. Using a Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods design, the quantitative phase employed Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with 210 respondents from government, academia, industry, and community sectors. The results confirm significant relationships among Smart Technology Integration, Cross-Sectoral Synergy, Digital Social Justice, Community Empowerment, and Sustainable Development Goals Impact. Complementing this, qualitative analysis through in-depth interviews with 30 participants revealed five interrelated themes: technology as a social space, collaboration as a value relation, digital justice as moral awareness, empowerment as self-transformation, and sustainability as meaningful life. The integration of both phases produced the Humanistic Cycle of Sustainable Empowerment, a reflective framework that positions technology as a moral medium for justice and collaboration. This research contributes to the evolving paradigm of Humanistic Mixed Methods, providing a human-centered perspective for digital governance and reaffirming that sustainability is not built by smarter systems, but by wiser humans guided by moral awareness.
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