Rural ICT study

Power Lake AB has been subcontracted by MAC that had an assignment from the European Commission, DG Agriculture to carry: Study on Availability of Access to Computer Networks in Rural Areas (Rural ICT, contract No: 30-CE-0099278/00-78).

The study was based on a critical review and examples of how rural development strategies can benefit from ICT, based on a synthesis of existing literature and a large number of case studies. The overall objective of the study was to provide concrete guidance on how to maximise the benefits of ICT for growth and jobs in rural areas through support under rural development programmes, through the provision of a Guide on best practices and a Review of existing literature. DG Agriculture & Rural Development plans to use the results described here, to:

• Assess the state of play of demand for ICT services in rural areas in Europe
• Map the relevance of the Digital Divide as a rural development issue
• Assess what practices have been most successful in making ICT a strategic and innovative factor for growth & employment in rural areas

The study included two main strands:

• The establishment of a data base of 65 best practices/cases studies and the subsequent drafting of a guide and recommendations on how to implement ICT policies for rural areas
• A review of existing data, literature & research illustrating ICT take up

Power Lake ABs assignment was to select and make fiches on a number of organizations in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Island and to contribute to the studies.

Rural ICT was successfully finished at the end of 2007.