Remote places and digital paces? How rural places struggle to keep up with digital developments

While many studies have been conducted to analyse the impacts of digital developments, rural areas and small towns have been underrepresented. Therefore, this thesis takes a closer look at selected places and institutions in rural areas to study their possible contribution to digital inclusion and development. More in detail, digital hubs, schools and local online shopping platforms were chosen to study how and to what extent such meeting places can support digitalization in rural areas. As methods, interviews, case studies and content analysis of available documents and relatable data were used.

This thesis finds that meeting places in rural areas can support digitalization in rural areas to a certain extent. All the types of places studied were valuable for knowledge exchange and diffusion. Yet, various preconditions have to be met. For example, suitable hard- and software equipment as well as sufficient financial and human resources should be given. Moreover, commitment, collaboration, awareness and preparedness are important factors for the stakeholders involved. Another finding is that often, high hopes and expectations are linked to digitalization. Frequently, initiators of digitalization initiatives hope or expect that these can help to improve the situation in place. Yet, it can be hard to fulfil these expectations and digitalization should not be formulated as an aim in itself. Finally, this thesis reconfirms that digitalization efforts work very differently in rural areas, when compared to more urban places where population and service densities are much higher. Therefore, tailored, place-based support mechanisms should be developed and applied.