Digital technologies are essential for enhancing environmental sustainability. However, these have not been adequately explored in sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on a qualitative approach, this study examines awareness, adoption, drivers, and inhibitors of 52 planning practitioners across eight regions of Ghana. The findings suggest a high-level digital technology awareness among practitioners. However, awareness does not result in effective adoption. The study observes that the use of digital tools is skewed to a narrow set of technologies, especially drones and artificial intelligence, limiting the prospective benefits of technology integration. The study recognizes public–private partnerships (PPP), supportive policies, internet connectivity, and the educational transformation as driving factors, with PPP emerging as extremely important, given the inadequate governmental capacity. The study suggests that adoption is hindered by poor internet connectivity, inadequate institutional and technical support, technological barriers, bias behavior towards change, and financial constraints. Therefore, this study recommends a systematic, well-coordinated national approach to digital planning, institutional coordination, capacity building, and targeted investment. Highlighting the persistent gap between digital technology awareness and planning practices, this study contributes to global debates on transforming Africa’s technology space for environmental sustainability.
Gyamfua et al. (Fri,) studied this question.