Examining the role of digitalization and technological innovation in promoting sustainable natural resource exploitation

In the era of technological advancement, the potential of digitalization and technical innovation to revolutionize sustainable resource exploitation has become a focal point. The promises of reduced environmental impact, heightened efficiency, and improved socio-economic outcomes underscore the transformative power that digitalization holds for resource management. To this extent, the fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy VIsekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR) methods are used to examine challenges and come up with possible solutions for the mining sector in Pakistan to adopt digital transformation. The study identifies several key challenges, sub-challenges, and strategies, giving readers a thorough grasp of digital transformation. These challenges and sub-challenges are evaluated and ranked according to their relative weights using the fuzzy AHP approach. The fuzzy VIKOR method is applied to determine strategies that can help overcome these challenges and promote digitalization and technological innovation in the sustainable exploitation of natural resources. The results of fuzzy AHP show that policy and regulation, infrastructure, and human capital are key challenges. The findings of fuzzy VIKOR indicate that robust policy development, investment in Research and Development (R&D), and leveraging global trends and partnerships are key strategies to overcome the challenges. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners, offering new perspectives on integrating digital technology into the natural resource sector to foster sustainable development.