Development projects that are potentially eligible for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) funding under the Kyoto Protocol, require final approval from the host countries where the projects are to be implemented. The approval requires an evaluation of the positive contribution of the CDM project to sustainable development in the host country. A prototype set of sustainable development criteria is introduced using an evaluation process conducted in South Africa. Weighting values that reflect societal priorities in South Africa are required for these criteria. The paper shows how judgements of industry decision makers and the expenditure trends of the national government (on environmental sub-criteria) can be used to generate a first approximation of such weighting values. The industry judgements are obtained from an Analytical Hierarch Process (AHP) survey. They reflect the perceptions of the automotive supply chain and process industry only, and not other parts of the South African society. A more comprehensive study is required to determine the political and social acceptability of the AHP approach, which should be initiated and managed by the Designated National Authority (DNA) of South Africa.

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The digital economy has radically changed the way services and products are developed and deployed. Digital information and communication technology connects increasing numbers of people, organisations, and other systems. The interconnectedness of services and products in an organisation and the outside world drives complexity. These interactions include humans interacting in social networks with one another, the technology, and the environment. Therefore, systems thinking approaches are required to help develop these systems and resolve the complex problems encountered in this space. This paper proposes a systems thinking framework to address the challenges of the digital economy from a sociotechnical perspective, based on an exploratory literature review. This will serve as a guideline for implementing various systems thinking tools to support a successful digital transformation. Keywords digital economy; systems thinking; sociotechnical; transformation