A review of the rural-digital policy agenda from a community resilience perspective

© 2016 The Authors This paper utilises a community resilience framework to critically examine the digital-rural policy agenda. Rural areas are sometimes seen as passive and static, set in contrast to the mobility of urban, technological and globalisation processes (Bell et al., 2010). In response to notions of rural decline (McManus et al., 2012) rural resilience literature posits rural communities as ‘active,’ and ‘proactive’ about their future (Skerratt, 2013), developing processes for building capacity and resources. We bring together rural development and digital policy-related literature, using resilience motifs developed from recent academic literature, including community resilience, digital divides, digital inclusion, and rural information and communication technologies (ICTs). Whilst community broadband initiatives have been linked to resilience (Plunkett-Carnegie, 2012; Heesen et al., 2013) digital inclusion, and engagement with new digital technologies more broadly, have not. We explore this through three resilience motifs: resilience as multi-scalar; as entailing normative assumptions; and as integrated and place-sensitive. We point to normative claims about the capacity of digital technology to aid rural development, to offer solutions to rural service provision and the challenges of implementing localism. Taking the UK as a focus, we explore the various scales at which this is evident, from European to UK country-level

The concept of ‘smart cities’. Towards community development?

The value of ICTs in support of a variety of functions in urban environments, serving people, businesses and governmental institutions is nowadays greatly acknowledged. The concept of ‘smart’ cities has emerged, where local innovation systems, largely supported by digital networks and their applications, are contributing to the: diffusion of knowledge and information, knowledgeable decision making, network cooperation, efficient interaction among various actors and intelligence gathering. The aim of the paper is to indulge in the concept of ‘smart’ cities for inclusive community development. The first part elaborates on the concept of ‘smart’ city, by exploring its various meanings, key dimensions, and potential for community development. In the second part, the Greek experience is presented, by means of a prominent example of a Greek ‘smart’ city, developing city-specific ICTs applications for inclusive community development. Finally, in the last part, some conclusions and future prospects of the concept of ‘smart’ cities for community development in Greece are drawn

ICTs for rural development: potential applications and barriers involved

Rural policy nowadays is at the heart of the policy discussion in many countries all over the world, in the effort to address and effectively support the specific needs and opportunities of rural places and their population in the new era. Along these lines, the focus of the present paper is twofold: on the one hand it attempts to shed light on the role of ICTs and their applications as enabling tools empowering rural development; while on the other hand it explores the barriers appearing towards the adoption and use of ICTs in rural regions. In such a context, it firstly places emphasis on the evolving new rural development paradigm. Then, the range and potential of ICTs applications is explored, that can serve the implementation of the new policy paradigm in rural regions. It follows a discussion on the steps that are needed in order to develop value-added ICTs applications in rural regions and the barriers appearing in the adoption and use of ICTs in these regions. Finally, are presented some issues of policy concern in respect to the adoption and use of ICTs in a rural development perspective

ICTs for rural development: potential applications and barriers involved

Rural policy nowadays is at the heart of the policy discussion in many countries all over the world, in the effort to address and effectively support the specific needs and opportunities of rural places and their population in the new era. Along these lines, the focus of the present paper is twofold: on the one hand it attempts to shed light on the role of ICTs and their applications as enabling tools empowering rural development; while on the other hand it explores the barriers appearing towards the adoption and use of ICTs in rural regions. In such a context, it firstly places emphasis on the evolving new rural development paradigm. Then, the range and potential of ICTs applications is explored, that can serve the implementation of the new policy paradigm in rural regions. It follows a discussion on the steps that are needed in order to develop value-added ICTs applications in rural regions and the barriers appearing in the adoption and use of ICTs in these regions. Finally, are presented some issues of policy concern in respect to the adoption and use of ICTs in a rural development perspective.L’évolution de la ruralité occupe actuellement une place centrale au sein du débat politique. Il s’agit à la fois de répondre aux besoins spécifiques des populations rurales, et de saisir les opportunités économiques pour le développement local. Cet article revêt une double ambition : d’une part, apporter un éclairage sur le rôle que les TIC peuvent effectivement jouer en faveur du développement rural ; et d’autre part, comprendre quelles sont les principales difficultés d’adoption dans cet espace si singulier. La première partie met l’accent sur l’existence d’un nouveau référentiel politique de développement rural intégrant désormais les TIC en tant qu’outil essentiel de son élaboration. La deuxième partie met en discussion les facteurs décisifs permettant un développement numérique rural efficace. La troisième partie pointe les difficultés d’adoption généralisée des populations et des entreprises vis-à-vis de ces nouvelles technologies. Dans une dernière partie, nous présentons l’ensemble des critères qui nous paraissent décisifs à la réussite des politiques publiques engagées en matière de numérique dans les espaces ruraux

Teleworking and Virtual Organization in the Urban and Regional Context

The globalization process taking place in the context of information society provides a broad range of opportunities to the actors involved in more efficient organizational forms, new trading opportunities, restructured educational perspectives, new employment challenges, etc. Employment patterns so far have been dramatically influenced by the rapidly evolving technological innovations and their potential role on spatial structuring both at the urban and regional level. One prominent application of the newly offered possibilities is teleworking which alters considerably traditional patterns of work, mobility patterns, energy consumption patterns, personal relationships, etc. While teleworking has induced new forms of work organization, technological developments have also advocated radical changes in the structure of firms, where “virtual organization” is emerging as a response to increasing competition and need for efficient use of resources. Virtual organization is characterized by three distinct elements, namely-, new organizational forms, being active beyond the limits of the traditional company model, a network function support, where various firms are trying through networking to seize business opportunities, which none of them would be able to realize on their own and the ability to overcome time and space barriers in a rapidly changing global marketplace. The focus of the paper will be to explore the new perspectives opened to spatial restructuring due to the introduction of virtual firms.Stratigea Anastasia, Giaoutzi Maria. Teleworking and Virtual Organization in the Urban and Regional Context. In: NETCOM : Réseaux, communication et territoires / Networks and Communication Studies, vol. 14 n°3-4,2000. Built Space, New Technologies and Networks. pp. 331-357