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SDTDF · Decision Support Tool
Warren, 2026 · Interactive Assessment
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Pre-Adoption Decision Support · Warren (2026)

Sustainable Digital Transformation
Decision Framework

A structured, evidence-based tool to help organizations determine whether, when, and under what conditions digital transformation should proceed — before commitment is made.

Based on DTAD + ECET + Accountability Taxonomy · Adapted from Warren, Beck & McGuffin (2023)
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What this is
A Pre-Adoption Gate
Unlike maturity models that assess progress after adoption, this tool evaluates readiness and ethics before commitment is made.
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Key differentiator
Power Analysis Required
The only framework that requires explicit analysis of who gains and loses power as a scored prerequisite to adoption approval.
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Outcome
Differentiated Decision
Results in Go, Conditional Go, Pause, or No-Go with specific conditions — not a generic readiness score.

Select your organizational context

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K-12 Education
Schools, districts, and K-12 systems adopting AI or digital platforms
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Higher Education
Universities and colleges evaluating enterprise-level digital transformation
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Healthcare / Clinical
Health systems and clinical organizations adopting health-tech solutions
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Corporate / Workforce
Organizations adopting digital tools that affect workforce operations
Phase 1 · Strategic Rationale

Why are we doing this?

Before evaluating feasibility or ethics, the organization must articulate a clear, evidence-based rationale for the transformation. Reactive or vendor-driven adoption without strategic grounding is a leading predictor of failure.

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Gate Condition If the organization cannot articulate a clear problem statement linked to stakeholder need, the assessment should pause before proceeding.
Phase 2 · Stakeholder Readiness

Are people ready?

Technical solutions adopted without organizational and human readiness consistently underperform. This phase assesses capacity, training, and change management infrastructure.

Phase 3 · Multi-Dimensional Impact Assessment

What are the full impacts?

Rate each dimension on a 0–100 scale. The six dimensions together produce the Sustainability Scorecard. This section drives the primary numerical verdict.

Phase 4 · Power & Equity Analysis

Who gains, who loses?

This phase is the SDTDF's primary theoretical contribution. No framework reviewed in the literature requires explicit power redistribution analysis as a scored gate criterion. A negative finding here can override a positive financial or technical score.

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Power Gate If any of the following questions produces a "No" response without a mitigation plan, the overall verdict cannot exceed Conditional Go regardless of aggregate score.
Phase 5 · Sustainability Evaluation

Can we sustain this long-term?

Adapted from Trevisan et al. (2024), this phase assesses whether the transformation can be maintained across financial, environmental, and organizational sustainability dimensions without dependency or collapse.

Phase 6 · Gate Decision

Final gate questions

These binary questions function as hard stops. A "No" response without mitigation forces a Pause or No-Go recommendation regardless of aggregate score.

Warren, S. J. (2026). Sustainable Digital Transformation Decision Framework (SDTDF): A pre-adoption decision-support system integrating DTAD, ECET, and Accountability Taxonomy. Adapted from Warren, S. J., Beck, D., & McGuffin, K. (2023). In Moore & Dousay (Eds.), Applied Ethics for Instructional Design and Technology. EdTechBooks.org. Framework gap identified by Trevisan et al. (2024), Environment, Development and Sustainability, 26, 2789–2810.