Dear Colleagues,

Digital shapes, with increasing relevance and intensity, represent the most varied dimensions of human action; their consequent influence on the social and natural context that surrounds them also makes them a potentially relevant instrument in informing an increasingly sustainable society. They also raise profound challenges with the possibility of reproducing old inequalities and producing new ones at various levels (micro-, meso-, and macrosocial levels).

Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City intends to be an undeniable reference for collecting an entry collection covering diverse digital society and smart city fields, namely topics relating to the importance, relevance, and/or challenges raised by the digital dimension in the various contexts of activity, regardless of the scientific perspective adopted in an inter-, multi-, or transdisciplinary vision.

Dr. Sandro Serpa
Dr. Stylianos Mystakidis
Collection Editors

Please click here to find Guidelines for Submissions.

Volume

Forthcoming Volume : 16 Entries
Smart Mobility and Last-Mile Rail Integration
By Wil Martens
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6010026
Smart-city last-mile rail access, referred to in this entry simply as last-mile access, captures how travelers connect to and from rail stations during the first or last leg of a journey. It encompasses both the design of multimodal connections and the experience of acc [...] Read more
Smart-city last-mile rail access, referred to in this entry simply as last-mile access, captures how travelers connect to and from rail stations during the first or last leg of a journey. It encompasses both the design of multimodal connections and the experience of accessibility that results from them. On the supply side, last-mile access involves the coordination of walking, cycling, micromobility, and feeder transit with rail services, supported by digital systems that unify planning, ticketing, and payment. On the demand side, it reflects how efficiently and equitably travelers can reach stations within these coordinated networks. Together, these physical and institutional dimensions extend the functional reach of rail, reduce transfer barriers, and reinforce its role as the backbone of sustainable urban mobility. As cities strive to reduce car dependency while promoting inclusivity and accessibility, last-mile access has become a key indicator of how infrastructure, technology, and governance intersect to deliver more equitable transportation systems.
Flod
Digital Twin for Sustainable Social Housing: Integrating BIM and MMC Towards Industry 5.0
By Chathuri Widanage , Ki Pyung Kim
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(2), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6020030
MMC has been globally recognised as a promising solution for the current global social housing crisis, although persistent challenges remain in relation to limited early-stage design coordination and chronic design inconsistencies, which often cause costly post-design m [...] Read more
MMC has been globally recognised as a promising solution for the current global social housing crisis, although persistent challenges remain in relation to limited early-stage design coordination and chronic design inconsistencies, which often cause costly post-design modifications. In response, digital twinning enabled through BIM has emerged as a compelling approach to tackle these challenges. BIM serves a transformative role in advancing sustainable social housing supply by integrating BIM with advanced smart technologies such as AR/VR, IoT, AI, and robotics. Nevertheless, significant constraints continue to impede a wide adoption of BIM due to technical capacity, organisational readiness, knowledge dissemination, and legal frameworks that support embracing BIM and associated smart technologies. Moreover, a notable knowledge gap persists in the application of BIM-enabled digital twinning across the entire project lifecycle of MMC projects, which may be addressed through the integration of Industry 5.0 principles with BIM, emphasising human-centricity, resilience, and sustainability as foundational pillars for future innovation.
Flod
Deepfakes and Synthetic Media: Generation, Detection, and Governance
By Alexandros Gazis , Efstathios Karypidis , Kleanthi Santamouri , Theodoros Vavouras , Nikos E. Mastorakis , Stylianos Pappas
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(8), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6080165
Deepfakes, synthetic audiovisual content produced by deep generative models, have escalated into a critical threat across civilian and military domains, enabling identity fraud, disinformation campaigns, and evidence fabrication. In high-stakes environments, ranging fro [...] Read more
Deepfakes, synthetic audiovisual content produced by deep generative models, have escalated into a critical threat across civilian and military domains, enabling identity fraud, disinformation campaigns, and evidence fabrication. In high-stakes environments, ranging from journalism and finance to healthcare and legal contexts, the consequences extend to severe misinformation, market manipulation, identity fraud, and the erosion of institutional trust. This entry explores how modern visual intelligence and computer-vision techniques are used to detect deepfakes. It outlines key deepfake generation models, such as GANs, autoencoders, neural rendering, and diffusion systems, while also explaining how adversarial methods enhance realism and challenge existing detectors. The overview highlights visual artifacts, digital patterns, and physiological cues commonly leveraged in detection and reviews major CNN, transformer, and frequency-based approaches. It also summarizes evaluation practices and the difficulty of achieving strong generalization. Finally, it identifies emerging directions, including modern intelligence techniques for civilian and military content verification. This survey covers generation architectures (GANs, latent diffusion, neural rendering, video synthesis), the spatial, temporal, frequency-domain, and physiological artifacts they produce, and the detector families that exploit them. We examine evaluation benchmarks and protocols, highlighting cross-generator generalization as the field’s central open challenge. Beyond detection, we discuss cryptographic provenance standards, watermarking, and regulatory frameworks (EU AI Act, DSA, GDPR). We conclude that effective deepfake governance requires defense in depth integrating forensic detection, verifiable provenance, and institutional accountability.
Flod
Synthetic Media: Deepfakes, AI-Generated Content, and Authenticity in the Digital Society
By Dan Valeriu Voinea
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(8), 175; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6080175
Synthetic media are digital artifacts (image, video, audio, text, or multimodal content) that are wholly or partly generated or materially manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI), particularly by deep-learning models. In consequence, their form, source, identity sig [...] Read more
Synthetic media are digital artifacts (image, video, audio, text, or multimodal content) that are wholly or partly generated or materially manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI), particularly by deep-learning models. In consequence, their form, source, identity signal, or evidentiary relation to recorded events becomes partly or wholly artificial. A deepfake is the best-known subclass: AI-generated or AI-manipulated image, audio, or video content (including audio-only voice clones and still images) that realistically depicts an existing or fictitious person, object, place, or event and could falsely appear to be authentic. Contemporary scholarly and legal usage defines deepfakes by their technological origin and their capacity to deceive rather than by the creator’s intent, so disclosed and beneficial applications (accessibility, dubbing, entertainment, and research) are synthetic media as well. They are distinguished from cheapfakes (or shallowfakes), which achieve deception through conventional, non-AI editing such as selective cropping, slowing, or recontextualization. The social significance of synthetic media is not intrinsic but depends on consent, context, disclosure, and distribution, and on the institutional conditions under which audiences judge authenticity across the expanding volume of AI-generated content (AIGC) in the digital society.
Flod
From Cryptocurrencies to CBDCs: A Scoping–Integrative Review Proposing a Digital Money Ecosystem Taxonomy (DMET)
By Alam Ahmad
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(9), 196; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6090196
Digital money has transformed from a technological experiment into a central concern of monetary economics, financial regulation, and public policy. Despite rapid growth in cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and tokenized deposits, t [...] Read more
Digital money has transformed from a technological experiment into a central concern of monetary economics, financial regulation, and public policy. Despite rapid growth in cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and tokenized deposits, the literature remains fragmented across disciplines, with limited cross-cutting synthesis. This article adopts a scoping–integrative review methodology, combining systematic database (Scopus and Web of Science) searches with targeted retrieval of policy and institutional sources (BIS, IMF, Financial Stability Board (FSB), ECB, and national central bank repositories), covering the period 2008–2025, with integrative synthesis of academic, policy, and regulatory sources following PRISMA-ScR reporting principles. The review identifies four competing trust mechanisms underpinning digital money: algorithmic trust associated primarily with cryptocurrencies, private reserve backing trust (stablecoins), sovereign trust underpinning CBDCs, and regulated institutional intermediation supporting tokenized deposits. The proposed digital money ecosystem taxonomy (DMET) classifies digital money instruments across fourteen institutional, governance, technological, monetary, and regulatory dimensions, enabling systematic comparison of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, CBDCs, and tokenized deposits. Future monetary systems will be hybrid, combining public and private digital money within layered governance arrangements. Interoperability, privacy, programmability, and cross-border governance represent the most critical unresolved policy and research challenges.
Flod
AI Calibracy: A Future-Ready Competency Framework in AI-Supported Professional Judgment and Decision Making
By Samad M. E. Sepasgozar
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(10), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6100225
AI Calibracy is a developmental competency that is defined in this entry as a learner’s or practitioner’s capacity to examine, coordinate, and progressively improve their judgment, external fresh evidence, computational models or simulations, and artificial intelligence [...] Read more
AI Calibracy is a developmental competency that is defined in this entry as a learner’s or practitioner’s capacity to examine, coordinate, and progressively improve their judgment, external fresh evidence, computational models or simulations, and artificial intelligence (AI) within a specific decision context. What can be progressively improved is categorized into four bases of reliance, named as SEMA: Self, Evidence, Model or Simulation, and AI, and discussed in the paper. AI Calibracy is not supposed to prescribe a fixed hierarchy, numerical weighting, or a universal division of authority among these contributors. Instead, it identifies the capabilities required to recognize their relevance, limitations, assumptions, disagreements, and implications for professional judgment. The competency is introduced and also developed through the reliance calibration and regulation cycle (RCRC), as a process in which learners form an initial judgment, inspect evidence, test models, interrogate AI outputs, compare findings, identify uncertainty, revise their judgment and confidence, and reflect on outcomes across repeated tasks. In this concept, AI includes not only generative AI but also various functions such as predictive, diagnostic, recommendation, optimization, computer-vision, decision-support, and autonomous or semi-autonomous systems. AI Calibracy provides a definition for leadership, educators, curriculum design, pedagogy, professional development, assessment, and research into the capabilities required for responsible, as task-specific warrant and context-sensitive practice in AI-enabled environments.
Flod
Metaverse City: Conceptual Views and Formation Factors Towards the Digital Society
By Giovana Goretti Feijó Almeida
Encyclopedia 2025, 5(2), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia5020062
The “metaverse city” is defined as an immersive, interactive, and experiential digital environment that replicates or reinvents elements of physical cities, inserting them into an alternative reality. This concept involves transposing the urban, social, and cultural asp [...] Read more
The “metaverse city” is defined as an immersive, interactive, and experiential digital environment that replicates or reinvents elements of physical cities, inserting them into an alternative reality. This concept involves transposing the urban, social, and cultural aspects of real cities into the metaverse, thus creating new ways of interacting with and experiencing urban space. Thus, it is not necessarily a digital replica of a physical city; however, it is invariably distinguished by its immersive nature, offering users a sensory and interactive experience. This concept goes beyond the mere digital replication of a city, evolving into a multifaceted space that integrates urban, social, cultural, and technological elements. It is shaped by digital interactions mediated by social actors (users), whose relationships in the metaverse are influenced by the power dynamics occurring in the virtual environment, much like in physical cities. The metaverse city is not merely an extension of the physical city; rather, it is a digital construct that enables alternative ways of living and relating to urban space. Consequently, it is a dynamic and ever-evolving construct, contingent on the active engagement of multiple social actors and their interactions for its consolidation. without the strategic involvement of diverse social actors, the identity and practices that characterize this contemporary urban entity—made possible by emerging technologies—risk losing their viability.
Flod
Serious Video Games: Tools for Learning, Training and Health
By Caroline Hands
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(4), 83; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6040083
Serious video games are digital games designed for purposes beyond entertainment, typically to support education, training, health interventions, or behaviour change. They combine game mechanics with psychological and pedagogical principles, such as feedback, repetition [...] Read more
Serious video games are digital games designed for purposes beyond entertainment, typically to support education, training, health interventions, or behaviour change. They combine game mechanics with psychological and pedagogical principles, such as feedback, repetition, goal-setting, and scaffolding, to create interactive environments that facilitate learning, skill development, and sustained engagement. In many cases, they are built to simulate realistic tasks or decision contexts, allowing users to practise skills, test strategies, and learn from consequences in a low-risk setting. Within cyberpsychology, serious video games are particularly valuable because they provide structured digital contexts for examining how technology shapes cognition, emotion, motivation, and behaviour. They enable researchers and practitioners to observe how users respond to digital rewards, challenges, social features, and immersive environments, as well as how these features influence outcomes such as self-efficacy, persistence, attention, and emotion regulation. As a result, serious video games operate at the intersection of psychological theory, human–technology interaction, and applied digital intervention design. This entry provides an overview of their development, theoretical foundations, applications, effectiveness, and associated ethical considerations.
Flod
Creative Digital Platform Work and New Labour Protection in China
By Emma Duester
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(2), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6020035
The digital labour economy is a system where work is mediated through digital technologies and online platforms. Work is often also called platform labour or gig work. China has brought out new labour protections to promote and support these new forms of employment (NFE [...] Read more
The digital labour economy is a system where work is mediated through digital technologies and online platforms. Work is often also called platform labour or gig work. China has brought out new labour protections to promote and support these new forms of employment (NFE) to address gaps in existing labour rights, personal data protection, and AI governance. However, a new type of work in the digital labour economy is creative digital platform work, which is distinct from other kinds of digital work and gig work that only uses AI and digital platforms to receive work, gigs, and tasks. Visual artists’ work is mediated by multiple digital software, AI programs, platforms, and apps. However, they do not have the usual ‘labour relationship’ like gig workers or platform labourers, as they are not employed by any single platform.
Flod
Human-Centric, Sustainable and Resilient Smart Cities in Industry 5.0
By Athanasios Tsipis , Vasileios Komianos , Georgios Tsoumanis
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(4), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6040087
The concept of “human-centric, sustainable and resilient smart cities” in Industry 5.0 (I5.0) refers to urban socio-technical ecosystems in which digital infrastructures and services are explicitly oriented toward human well-being, ecological stewardship, and systemic r [...] Read more
The concept of “human-centric, sustainable and resilient smart cities” in Industry 5.0 (I5.0) refers to urban socio-technical ecosystems in which digital infrastructures and services are explicitly oriented toward human well-being, ecological stewardship, and systemic resilience rather than purely technological optimization or automation. Grounded in the I5.0 framework, which promotes human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience as equally important pillars, this paradigm repositions smart cities as value-driven environments that integrate enabling technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Extended Reality (XR), and related digital infrastructures within participatory, transparent, ethical, and accountable governance structures. From this perspective, technologies function as means through which cities develop higher-order capabilities for sensing, decision support, coordination, interaction, and adaptive service delivery. At the same time, they address digital divides and include measures that promote and protect inclusion, trust, and long-term socio-environmental viability. This entry synthesizes the conceptual foundations, technological enablers, capability-oriented architecture, governance implications, and emerging challenges that influence the transformation of smart cities into human-centric, sustainable, and resilient innovation systems in the I5.0 era.
Flod
Data Cooperatives and Their Impact on GovTech as a Regional Development Approach for Digital Transformation at a Local Level
By Christian Schachtner , Nadine Baumann
Encyclopedia 2026, 6(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia6010003
A data cooperative is a legally organized cooperative whose purpose is the collective collection, management, and use of data collected by its members. In contrast to other data pools, it can act as a democratic self-governing organization in which each member has a say [...] Read more
A data cooperative is a legally organized cooperative whose purpose is the collective collection, management, and use of data collected by its members. In contrast to other data pools, it can act as a democratic self-governing organization in which each member has a say in how data is collected, shared, and analyzed. The members retain control over the data they contribute. They collectively benefit from the resulting data services, for example, through new insights, innovative services, or economic advantages. As a forward-looking model, the data cooperative enables smaller players to access reliable data infrastructure and data resources that would otherwise remain inaccessible. It promotes data sovereignty and strengthens trust in data-driven cooperation. Here, the definition of data derives from the field of business informatics, which gives a scientifically sound typology of data, systematized on several levels. The following elaboration offers conceptual clarification and presentation of central data types. Depending on the context and processing purpose, their classification is essential for business informatics, as they form the raw material for information systems and business processes. Data cooperatives are gaining in importance as a cooperative form of organization enabling democratic co-determination, community benefit, and equal access to data for regional actors.
Flod
Healthy Aging in Place with the Aid of Smart Technologies: A Systematic Review
By Ming Hu , Soojin Han , Siavash Ghorbany , Kai Zhang
Encyclopedia 2024, 4(4), 1918-1932; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia4040125
This study evaluates the current scope of smart technology applications that support aging in place and identifies potential avenues for future research. The global demographic shift towards an aging population has intensified interest in technologies that enable older [...] Read more
This study evaluates the current scope of smart technology applications that support aging in place and identifies potential avenues for future research. The global demographic shift towards an aging population has intensified interest in technologies that enable older adults to maintain independence and quality of life within their homes. We conducted a systematic review of the scientific literature from Web of Science, PubMed, and ProQuest, identifying 44 smart technologies across 32 publications. These technologies were classified into three categories: nonmobile technologies for individual monitoring, nonmobile technologies for home environment monitoring, and wearable technologies for health and activity tracking. Notably, the research in this area has grown significantly since 2018; yet, notable gaps persist, particularly within the traditional disciplines related to aging and in the use of quantitative methodologies. This emerging field presents substantial opportunities for interdisciplinary research and methodological advancement, highlighting the need for well-developed research strategies to support the effective integration of smart technology in aging in place.
Flod
Generative AI and Large Language Models in Industry 5.0: Shaping Smarter Sustainable Cities
By Giulio Salierno , Letizia Leonardi , Giacomo Cabri
Encyclopedia 2025, 5(1), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia5010030
This review paper examines how Generative AI (GAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) can transform smart cities in the Industry 5.0 era. Through selected case studies and portions of the literature, we analyze these technologies’ impact on industrial processes and urban [...] Read more
This review paper examines how Generative AI (GAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) can transform smart cities in the Industry 5.0 era. Through selected case studies and portions of the literature, we analyze these technologies’ impact on industrial processes and urban management. The paper targets GAI as an enabler for industrial optimization and predictive maintenance, underlining how domain experts can work with LLMs to improve municipal services and citizen communication, while addressing the practical and ethical challenges in deploying these technologies. We also highlight promising trends, as reflected in real-world case studies ranging from factories to city-wide test-beds and identify pitfalls to avoid. Widespread adoption of GAI still faces challenges that include infrastructure and lack of specialized knowledge as a limitation of proper implementation. While LLMs enable new services for citizens in smart cities, they also expose certain privacy issues, which we aim to investigate in this study. Finally, as a way forward, the paper suggests future research directions covering new ethical AI frameworks and long-term studies on societal impacts. Our paper is a starting point for industrial pioneers and urban developers to navigate the complexity of GAI and LLM integration, balancing the demands of technological innovation on one hand and ethical responsibility on the other.
Flod
Behavior Mapping and Its Application in Smart Social Spaces
By Kate Bishop , Nancy Marshall , Homa Rahmat , Susan Thompson , Christine Steinmetz-Weiss , Linda Corkery , Christian Tietz , Miles Park
Encyclopedia 2024, 4(1), 171-185; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia4010015
Behavior mapping is the systematic observation of people using their environments. The Smart Social Spaces research project, recently completed in Sydney, Australia, is used as a vehicle to illustrate the usefulness of this method for understanding the relationships bet [...] Read more
Behavior mapping is the systematic observation of people using their environments. The Smart Social Spaces research project, recently completed in Sydney, Australia, is used as a vehicle to illustrate the usefulness of this method for understanding the relationships between people and public spaces in cities. Behavior mapping was the central method used to establish what impact the inclusion of smart technology and street furniture had on people’s use of two public spaces. Using this method, it is possible to record real-time patterns of people’s use of public space, enabling local authorities to better support the social use of public space and the management of its infrastructure.
Flod
Social Aspects of Smart Urban Mobility
By Łukasz Brzeziński
Encyclopedia 2024, 4(2), 864-873; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia4020055
There is a growing interest in sustainable urban transport solutions in cities around the world. These changes, known as “smart urban mobility”, aim to reduce the negative effects of transport on the natural environment and enhance the standard of living for urban dwell [...] Read more
There is a growing interest in sustainable urban transport solutions in cities around the world. These changes, known as “smart urban mobility”, aim to reduce the negative effects of transport on the natural environment and enhance the standard of living for urban dwellers. It should be noted that in addition to this transformation’s technological aspects, modifying the city’s structure and architecture also has a social dimension. The transformation of urban mobility has a significant impact on social relations. Introducing new modes of transport, such as city bikes and electric scooters, creates new ways of moving around the city and can impact social interactions. This can increase social integration and a community’s sense of belonging. At the same time, it is necessary to consider the differences between social groups to ensure equal access to the benefits of these changes in addition to deeper social elements, such as changing the habits and expectations of residents and adapting solutions to the specific needs of each city. This paper aims to look at the social aspects of smart urban mobility, including the impact of these changes on the lives and relationships of city residents.
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The Metaverse in Industry 5.0: A Human-Centric Approach towards Personalized Value Creation
By Dimitris Mourtzis
Encyclopedia 2023, 3(3), 1105-1120; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia3030080
In the context of Industry 5.0, the concept of the Metaverse aligns with the vision of Web 4.0, representing a digital ecosystem where individuals and organizations collaborate in a human-centric approach to create personalized value. This virtual universe connects mult [...] Read more
In the context of Industry 5.0, the concept of the Metaverse aligns with the vision of Web 4.0, representing a digital ecosystem where individuals and organizations collaborate in a human-centric approach to create personalized value. This virtual universe connects multiple interconnected worlds, enabling real-time interactions between users and computer-generated environments. By integrating technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and the Internet of Things (IoT), the Metaverse within Industry 5.0 aims to foster innovation and enhance productivity, efficiency, and overall well-being through tailored and value-driven solutions. Therefore, this entry explores the concept of the Metaverse in the context of Industry 5.0, highlighting its definition, evolution, advantages, and disadvantages. It also discusses the pillars of technological advancement, challenges, and opportunities, including its integration into manufacturing. The entry concludes with a proposal for a conceptual framework for integrating the human-centric Metaverse into manufacturing.
Flod

Institution: Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of the Azores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Interests: society 5.0; education and sustainability; sociology of organizations; teaching sociology; scientific communication

Institution: School of Natural Sciences, University of Patras, GR-2504 Patras, Greece

Interests: e-learning; distance education; open education; massive open online courses; game-based learning; gamification; serious games; playful learning; problem-based learning; digital storytelling; virtual worlds; virtual reality; immersive education; augmented reality; deep meaningful learning; blended learning; educational technology; technology enhanced learning; learning innovation; personal learning environments