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15dec202512:00IN PERSON: Digital Transformation, Certification, and Sustainable Development: Exploring the Pathways to Responsible Business in the 21st Century Luis Miguel Ciravegna Martins da Fonseca (School of Engineering of Porto)
12:00 Activity:Research seminar

Event Details

The transition toward a digital and sustainable economy necessitates that organizations align innovation, governance, and societal value creation. This seminar explores two complementary dimensions of sustainability research and practice.

First, we examine Fonseca et al. (2021), “B Corp versus ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 Certifications” — a comparative study of private-sector sustainability frameworks. This research not only highlights how B Corp certification and ISO management standards promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but also provides practical insights into their different logics: stakeholder-driven versus process-driven accountability. Both approaches contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, yet differ in scope, governance mechanisms, and stakeholder engagement models.

Second, we discuss insights from Fonseca et al. (2025), “Digital Futures, Sustainable Outcomes” — an empirical analysis of how digital transformation influences Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) progress across European Union countries. Using the Global Digitalisation Index and SDG performance data, the study reveals that digitalization enhances outcomes in health, innovation, and strong institutions, but may also generate environmental trade-offs. Governance quality and national culture are shown to moderate these relationships, emphasizing that technology-driven sustainability depends on institutional and contextual conditions.

Together, these works offer a multidimensional understanding of how digital transformation and certification systems interact with sustainable development imperatives. The seminar will engage participants in a critical discussion on:

· The submission process for these articles.

· How digitalization reshapes governance and sustainability performance across contexts.

· The Evolving Role of Voluntary Certifications in Legitimizing Responsible Business Conduct.

· Future research avenues linking Industry 5.0, CSR, and SDG implementation.

The session will conclude with reflections on methodological integration — combining quantitative sustainability metrics, institutional analysis, and business model innovation — to guide PhD research in sustainability, digital strategy, and responsible management.

Organizer

Luis Miguel Ciravegna Martins da Fonseca (School of Engineering of Porto)

Time

(Monday) 12:00

Location

Sala de Recepcions

Calendar GoogleCal

19feb202612:00IN PERSON: Quantum Machine Learning for Business Decision-Making Massimiliano Ferrara (University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria)
12:00 Activity:Research seminar

Event Details

Abstract

Quantum machine learning (QML) is emerging as a transformative technology for business analytics, offering novel approaches to complex classification and prediction problems. This research seminar presents a practical introduction to quantum kernel methods and their applications in management science, designed specifically for economists and business researchers without requiring a physics background. We introduce the fundamental concepts of quantum computing and quantum kernels as advanced similarity measures, demonstrating how they can capture complex, nonlinear patterns in business data that traditional machine learning methods often miss. Our empirical study using Quantum Support Vector Machines (Q-SVM) achieves 86.09% recall, 76.47% precision, and 0.83 AUC in customer classification tasks, representing an 18% improvement over classical approaches. The seminar covers four key business applications: customer churn prediction, marketing campaign targeting, supply chain and operations research, and financial risk assessment. We also explore emerging QML models including Variational Quantum Classifiers (VQC), Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), Quantum Neural Networks (QNN), and Quantum Reservoir Computing (QRC), highlighting their potential for portfolio optimization, demand forecasting, and fraud detection. A practical implementation roadmap is provided, emphasizing that organizations can begin experimenting today using free simulation tools such as IBM Qiskit, PennyLane, and cloud-based quantum services. We conclude with cost-benefit considerations and strategic recommendations for business leaders seeking to build quantum literacy and gain competitive advantage as this technology matures.