Digital Rural

In the 2021-2027 MFF administrations, at all levels, have been provided with a wide range of funds to improve digital infrastructure, increase digital usage, enhance digital skills and inclusion, and promote digital innovation in rural areas. MFF and Next Generation have reached rural communities through classical ERDF, Cohesion Funds, and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP 23-27), or newest Just Transition Fund (JTF), Digital Europe or InvestEU Programmes.

However, to optimise the Funds benefits, and overcome digital gaps, these initiatives need to engage and prioritise the needs of rural communities and stakeholders themselves. Otherwise, due to the continuous digital transformation, the digital divide between urban and rural grows naturally.

Administrations must recognise the different starting points of rural areas and co-design digital pathways from the bottom-up, while at the same time building bridges with innovative top-down strategies.

A group of policy makers, from local administration and regions with rural demography, have designed the proposal Digital Rural to work on their policy instruments following a parallel double learning process: bottom-up to define the Digital Policy Assessments; and a top-down to implement those innovative policies learned in the interregional exchange

The OBJECTIVE is to IMPROVE THE COORDINATION on the coming funds from the different EU, national and local policies, making the INVESTMENT MORE EFFICIENT and effective in order to accelerate the implementation of the Smart Village concept, and decrease the digital gap with urban areas.

To achieve it, each rural area has to implement a COMMUNITY-LED process, where the selection of the priorities and funding lines will be marked by a BOTTOM-UP approach, through stakeholders engagement and participation, that will be reinforced by parallel top-down innovative solutions identified through the interregional exchange of experiences promoted in the project.