We are in an age where the edges of the map are defined by digital networks: Data flows through almost every vein of life, from tax administration to environmental policies, from corporate finance to inheritance law. This book addresses the fiscal dimension of sustainable digitalization on an interdisciplinary stage, with chapters that each illuminate a different area; it attempts to balance the “opportunity-threat” pendulum by adding the patience of fiscal wisdom to the speed of technology. The following extended abstract presents the scientific framework established by the book as a whole, citing the title and author(s) of each chapter.
Chapter 1 – Blockchain Technologies and Local Government Economies: A Comparative Review (Asuman Altay)
While integrating blockchain into the public sphere through the trilogy of “immutable record, distributed consensus, traceable transaction,” Altay focuses particularly on transparency and efficiency gains in the financing, procurement, and service production of local governments. As the conditions for implementing permissioned/permissionless network architectures in the public sector are discussed, the fiscal effects of the smart city vision, extending from infrastructure investments to logistics, are analyzed. The sense of trust engraved on every leaf of the digital ledger also establishes the new language of local fiscal autonomy.
Chapter 2 – Circular Economy in the Context of Sustainability in the EU and Türkiye (Selin Sert, Coşkun Çılbant)
While Sert and Çılbant take the invisible fiscal environmental costs of the linear “take-make-dispose” model under a comparative lens with EU strategies, they demonstrate the necessity of supporting zero waste, 3R, and green transformation policies in Türkiye with budgetary instruments. Here, technology is addressed not merely as speed, but as the accounting of resource efficiency and the new method of public fiscal discipline.
Chapter 3 – The Effects of Digital Transformation in the Provincial Organizations (Malmüdürlükleri) of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance (Haluk Egeli, Burcu Usta)
Egeli and Usta weigh the returns of speed, accuracy, and transparency from moving revenue-payment-accounting processes to an electronic environment against the new fiscal burdens arising in terms of regulatory compliance, information security, and institutional capacity through a holistic approach. The contribution of reorganization, extending from the provincial scale to the city level, to the production of cost-effective public service is framed with quantitative and qualitative findings.
Chapter 4 – Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector: Opportunities and Risks for Sustainable Digital Services (Ceyda Ünal)
Ünal discusses the operational efficiencies provided by large language models in document generation, citizen interaction, and decision support within the axis of accompanying obligations of ethics, transparency, auditability, and accountability. Governance principles and measurable metrics are proposed to align generative AI in public digital services with sustainable fiscal performance.
Chapter 5 – Evaluation of Digital Services Tax and Tax Planning in Selected OECD Countries (Gizem Kalyoncu Yıkılmaz)
While comparing DST applications in the context of BEPS, Kalyoncu Yıkılmaz questions how national tax bases can be protected against aggressive tax planning by multinational corporations. The reinterpretation of the concept of “permanent establishment” in the digital economy stands out as a necessity that translates fiscal sovereignty into the language of the age.
Chapter 6 – Green Fiscal Policies in E-Waste Management (Gül Kayalıdere)
While examining the effect of instruments such as environmental taxes, recycling subsidies, producer responsibility, and deposit-refund in increasing e-waste recovery, Kayalıdere shows how financing and infrastructure inadequacies limit effectiveness. The fiscal design of the circular economy is portrayed here not only as an environmental policy but as a budget strategy.
Chapter 7 – Digital Poverty in the Information Society (Nur Sena Oğuz, Hafize Erva Yıldız, Seyfi Yıldız)
Tracing the differentiation between countries via the ICT Development Index, the authors reveal the digital divide regarding education, employment, and social participation. While fiscal instruments are proposed for infrastructure, accessible devices, and digital skills, digital inclusion is positioned as a prerequisite for fiscal sustainability.
Chapter 8 – Smart Contracts in Companies’ Sustainability Journey: Financial Opportunities and Risks to be Managed (Kevser Yılmaz, Melissa Nihal Cagle)
This chapter scrutinizes the potential of blockchain-based smart contracts in preventing the misuse of green bond proceeds, preventing double counting in carbon credits, and ensuring emission traceability in the supply chain; however, it calls for careful fiscal risk management within the triangle of code errors, cyber risk, and legal uncertainty.
Chapter 9 – Sustainable Inheritance Transfer in the Digital Age: Digital Estate in Turkish Law (Güngör Özcan)
Özcan addresses the procedural and substantive discussion of including digital assets such as crypto assets, domain names, and social media accounts in the estate, based on jurisprudence. Here, inheritance law meets the property regime of the digital economy; sustainability gains a new meaning as fiscal-legal continuity.
Chapter 10 – Fiscal Measures in Sustainable Digitalization: Green Taxation Policies Regulating Carbon Footprint (Hüsnü Çetin, Ahmet Özen)
Çetin and Özen compare instruments such as carbon tax, ETS, green budgeting, and PUE standards with examples from the EU, Sweden, and South Korea, in line with the polluter pays principle. Concrete strategies such as CBAM compliance, the 2053 Net Zero target, and directing DST revenues to green funds prove that fiscal policy and climate goals can meet on the same line.
Chapter 11 – The Effect of Digitalization on Carbon Emissions in Türkiye: ARDL Approach (Zeliha Semra Kılınç)
Kılınç’s empirical analysis points to the emission-increasing effect of broadband, internet usage, and mobile subscription indicators; suggesting the strengthening of the regulatory framework for renewable energy in data centers, energy efficiency standards, and smart grids. The findings emphasize through the language of data that digital transformation must be carried out in coordination with energy transformation.
General Evaluation and Conclusion
This study collectively argues that digitalization can only be transformed into lasting prosperity through a fiscal architecture compatible with sustainability goals in the axes of revenue (taxation), expenditure (green budgeting and incentives), and performance (measurement-monitoring-reporting). The book demonstrates to decision-makers that complementary tools such as circular economy, green taxation, digital inclusion, transparent financing with smart contracts, and AI governance in public services must be designed not singularly, but through an integrated strategy. To express it with a literary metaphor; digital transformation can evolve from noise to music with a correctly tuned fiscal policy; otherwise, the speed of technology will be overshadowed by the costs of increasing carbon footprints and digital inequality. This compilation serves not as ready-made prescriptions for policymakers, but as a strategic map guiding the way in the complex digital age: These eleven chapters, each valuable in its own right, can only build a sustainable future when they play in the same orchestra.