Impact and potential of digitalisation in rural communities
The EU is prioritising the digitalisation of rural areas and agriculture to address pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. The EU-funded DESIRA project, involving 25 European partners, has developed a methodology and online tool to evaluate the impact of digitalisation on rural areas using socio-cyber-physical systems. This approach is linked to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals as well as the EU’s Responsible Research and Innovation principle. DESIRA has organised 20 Living Labs and an EU Rural Digital Forum to advance policy development in the EU. A noteworthy discovery from DESIRA was the clear revelation that the structural challenges faced by rural areas are exacerbated by the unequal results stemming from a market-oriented digitisation process.
A socio-cyber-physical approach to digital technologies
“The pace of technological innovation can undermine the efforts of rural communities to catch up. For this reason, investments in physical and human infrastructures are necessary, but not sufficient. A proactive approach to anticipate the negative effects of digitalisation and to intervene in the most vulnerable realities is needed,” comments Gianluca Brunori, DESIRA’s project coordinator. Brunori also points out that digital technologies can be game-changers in rural contexts. They improve environmental risk management, enhance supply chain transparency, bolster public service delivery, and rejuvenate agriculture. Co-designing solutions with rural communities – as done in the 21 Living Labs – tailors digital innovations to local needs. Despite EU efforts, national-level implementation is lagging due to administrative and academic barriers, outdated governance, and inadequate local skills. A blend of top-down and bottom-up measures is essential for effective rural digitalisation. “A socio-cyber-physical approach has an important potential to better understand the readiness of users for digital solutions and the readiness of technologies to be applied in given contexts. At the same time, it opens the way to the understanding of the 'digital ecosystems' that influence the uptake and the effectiveness of digital solutions,” commented Brunori.
Digitalisation's impact enigma
DESIRA identified three key impact drivers: design, access, and complexity. Digital solutions must be designed to support sustainability, address the rural-digital divide, and manage the complexities of technology. Co-design with rural communities aligns with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, promoting quality work, gender balance, education, and environmental stewardship. “Acting upon these drivers through co-design with rural communities is a way to achieve sustainable development goals, especially in the field of quality of work, gender balance, education, environment,” added the project coordinator.
The transformative potential of digital technologies in rural communities
As DESIRA concluded in May 2023, its legacy extends beyond its completion. DESIRA members have initiated interactions and partnerships with the JRC, FAO, OECD, as well as national organisations in Europe and other continents. The Socio-Cyber-Physical Systems concept it developed is gaining traction in the scientific community, with other projects building upon it. Collaboration with international organisations and the application of this concept globally hold great promise. In this context DESIRA's insights on the dynamic digital divide, the transformative potential of digital solutions, and the challenges of implementation offer valuable guidance for policymakers, researchers, and innovators worldwide as they navigate the digital transformation of rural areas.
Keywords
DESIRA, rural digitalisation, digital technologies, socio-cyber-physio approach, sustainable development goals