How can smart technologies contribute to sustainable product lifecycle management?

This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) was proposed on par with the fascinating and exponentially growing development of smart enabling technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber-Physical System (CPS), Cloud Computing (CC), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics (BDA), Digital Twin (DT), etc, which have greatly advanced the development of sustainable smart manufacturing throughout the lifecycle. The VSI addressed issues that were not properly or even incorrectly addressed in the existing literature. The authors of this VSI sought to introduce new knowledge and debates to lead the research directions to new paths. The editorial team invited well-established researchers in this area and received about 40 highly qualified submissions, out of which 12 were accepted after standard peer-review procedure of the Journal of Cleaner Production, which covered the three main themes defined in the “Call-for-Papers”. The contributing authors were from Brazil, China, Finland, Pakistan, Sweden, USA (in alphabetical order). The coordinators of this VSI are confident that the contents of this VSI will advance the science of digitalisation and will help society to make real progress towards sustainable societies.