Background: Humanitarian supply chains (HSCs) face growing pressure to adopt digital technologies in volatile, uncertain, and resource-scarce environments (Altay and Green, 2006; Kovács and Spens, 2007). While digitalisation offers real operational gains, it also introduces risks - algorithmic bias, digital exclusion, and governance failures - that can harm the populations these systems exist to serve (Gold et al., 2021; IFRC, 2021). This dissertation argues that digitalisation’s impact on HSC resilience is not determined by technology alone. It depends on governance quality, institutional capacity, and ethical commitment. Methodology: A systematic literature review (SLR) following PRISMA 2020 guidelines synthesised 82 peer-reviewed articles and practitioner reports from Scopus and Web of Science (January 2015–December 2024). Boolean search operators were applied across 843 initial records, screened in two phases against explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality appraisal used CASP and MMAT tools. Thematic analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase inductive process in NVivo14. Inter-coder reliability: Cohen’s kappa κ = 0.84. High-quality studies (8–10/10): 41.5%. Findings: Digital technologies - blockchain, AI, IoT, and GIS/GPS - enhance visibility, agility, and accountability yet face critical systemic barriers: infrastructural limitations affect 64.6% of documented implementations; digital literacy gaps affect 72.0%; and algorithmic bias risks affect 54.9% of AI applications (World Bank, 2022; Coppi et al., 2021). Data privacy and informed consent concerns each appear in 70.7% of studies; 63.4% identify governance framework absence as the primary obstacle (Taylor, 2017; Bharosa et al., 2020). Three systemic interaction patterns emerge: the 'Capacity Trap,' the 'Accountability Paradox,' and the 'Ethical Gap.' Contribution: Two original frameworks are introduced. The Integrated Evaluation and Governance Framework (IEGF) assesses digital impact across efficiency, equity, and accountability with a 'Do No Harm' primacy rule for trade-off resolution. The Sequenced Adoption Model (SAM) provides four-phase implementation guidance with explicit governance decision gates addressing the sector's 'pilotitis' phenomenon (Raymond et al., 2016; UNHCR, 2022). Conclusion: Digitalisation helps and harms in equal measure. Its net contribution to HSC resilience depends entirely on the governance structures surrounding it. The IEGF and SAM provide practical, evidence-grounded tools for getting that governance right. Both require field validation before their generalisability can be confirmed (Ivanov and Dolgui, 2020; Taylor, 2017). Keywords: humanitarian logistics; supply chain resilience; digital transformation; governance; data ethics; blockchain; artificial intelligence; accountability; systematic literature review; IEGF; SAM.
Monower Sadique (Fri,) studied this question.