Digitalization affects all parts of the chemical industry: Increased process efficiency, new market platforms and innovative business models are often discussed as new opportunities for the chemical industry.

Chemical companies have found different ways to handle the digitalization challenge: Some international players have established special organizational units, others integrated this topic in their current management structure and approach. Some companies – considering themselves as “material producer” – see the biggest opportunities in the field of the “electrification” of existing production processes, others highlight opportunities of a digital disruption of existing businesses.

Therefore, the Journal of Business Chemistry is going to publish a special issue on digitalization, giving experts from this field a platform to provide interesting insights to our community. As the research field and practical implications of digitalization are very broad, the Journal of Business Chemistry is open to a variety of topics addressing specific issues in this field.

With the special issue on digitalization in the chemical industry, the Editors-in-Chief, Prof. Jens Leker, University of Münster, and Prof. Hannes Utikal, Provadis School of International Management and Technology, want to highlight:

- diverse perspectives on the strategic and the operational impact of digitalization on the value chain
- the implication of digitalization on established job profiles and necessary skills
- the risks arising from digitalization (e.g. data security)

Authors should submit their manuscript between 1st and 28th February, 2017 to contact@businesschemistry.org. For further information on the submission guidelines, please see http://www.businesschemistry.org/for-authors/submission-guidelines/