Background: Digital humanities (DH) applies computational and digital methods to humanistic inquiry. The convergence of DH with sustainable social innovation (SSI) offers a transformative paradigm for addressing complex societal challenges through participatory, data-informed, and community-centred approaches.
Objective: This study examines how digital humanities frameworks, tools, and methodologies can be systematically leveraged to catalyse, measure, and sustain social innovation at community and organisational levels.
Methods: A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining systematic literature analysis of 87 peer-reviewed sources (2015–2024), comparative case study evaluation across five international DH-SSI projects, and stakeholder survey data from 312 community practitioners.
Results: Findings demonstrate that DH tool integration increases community participation by an average of 42%, improves innovation implementation rates by 35%, and strengthens SDG alignment scores by 1.8 points on a 10-point scale compared to non-digital counterparts.
Conclusion: Digital humanities represents a critical enabler of sustainable social innovation. Institutional investment in participatory DH infrastructure, equitable digital access, and interdisciplinary collaboration are imperative to realise its full societal impact.