Digital Twins for Sustainable Supply Chains in the Gulf Cooperation Council: A Critical Review and Implementation Roadmap

Karim Soliman

doi:10.57159/jcmm.5.4.261094

Authors

Karim Soliman College of Business Administration, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport, Cairo, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9216-6360

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.57159/jcmm.5.4.261094

Keywords:

Critical Review, Digital Twin Technology, Gulf Cooperation Council, Industry 4.0, Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Abstract

Background: Digital twin technology (DTT) is increasingly proposed as an enabler of sustainability in supply chain management, but the evidence remains fragmented, conceptually dominated, and geographically uneven. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is under-represented in the peer-reviewed literature despite national strategies that place digital infrastructure and environmental performance at the center of industrial policy.

Objectives: This review maps DTT application domains and sustainability outcomes in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), appraises the strength of the underlying evidence, identifies the barriers and enablers shaping GCC adoption, and sets out the research needed to advance the field.

Methods: A critical, theory-informed integrative review was conducted across six databases for the period 2017 to 2026, complemented by backward snowballing. Eleven anchor studies, ten GCC-situated and one non-region-specific comparator, were appraised against four criteria: empirical basis, sustainability measurement, attribution to DTT, and regional relevance. Dynamic capabilities theory, the resource-based view, and institutional theory structure the interpretation.

Results: Field-validated sustainability gains directly attributable to DTT were not identified among the studies examined. Most claims are conceptual, review-based, or case-descriptive, and GCC evidence concentrates at early maturity levels within a limited range of sectors and countries. Recurrent barriers include infrastructure limitations, immature data governance, workforce skill gaps, high adoption costs, and regulatory uncertainty. The review develops an integrative framework linking DTT capabilities to environmental, operational-economic, and social outcomes through four mechanisms, derives six testable propositions, and contributes a five-level maturity model, a readiness self-assessment instrument, and a phased GCC implementation roadmap.

Conclusions: DTT should be regarded as a promising but not yet empirically substantiated enabler of sustainable supply chain transformation. Longitudinal, comparative, and field-based research is required to demonstrate attributable environmental, operational, and social impacts.

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