Information and communication technology in green logistics: status quo and research gaps

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine the status quo of research on applications of information and communication technology (ICT) in green logistics (GL) and offer recommendations for future research. We determine that research about political interaction is needed to design new standards and regulations for GL. We also recommend that this work be extended by behavioural research to both identify factors that influence society's sustainable behaviour and determine whether the current digitisation of society leads to more sustainable transport. In addition, this paper provides an overview of types of software applications that may be beneficial to GL. These benefits usually relate to the strategic management of freight transport and supply chains and the provision of software for executing or monitoring passenger transport. As such, further research on sustainability measures is also needed to identify important sustainable indicators in transport. Existing reviews mostly concentrate on either a specific logistics area or supply chain management; as far as we are aware, no studies focus on the use of ICT in GL at a superordinate level. This paper's holistic evaluation of the state of research in this underexplored area and its propositions for future research help to fill this gap in the literature. © 2017, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Austria.