Abstract This research develops a managerial tool to monitor and evaluate the sustainability performance of Digital Agricultural Technological Solutions (DATS). This tool is an assessment framework designed to evaluate both the benefits (monetary and non-monetary) and costs of DATS’s implementation. The assessment framework is developed with the study of 30 cases in Europe, working with different crops and breeds, with and without DATS. The framework is developed in three phases. First, it combines top-down and bottom-up approaches to identify the most relevant assessment categories, subcategories, and key performance indicators from a sustainability perspective, according to the type of technology adopted and the process in which the DATS are implemented. Next, the assessment framework design involves determining the calculation methods, considering both monetary and non-monetary evaluations. Finally, the framework is applied to each case to evaluate the costs and benefits, as well as the appropriateness and feasibility of the performance calculations. The contributions of the study to literature and practice are threefold, i) developing an assessment framework with a feasible and affordable subset of indicators linking theory and reality, ii) combining a dual lens assessment in monetary and non-monetary terms, and, iii) develop a dynamic living assessment tool that facilitates processing information about DATS adoption in a multi-season perspective. In the future, researchers could further refine, replicate and expand the use of the assessment framework in other geographies or for specific DATS or agricultural sectors.
León-Bravo et al. (2026) studied this question.