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DigitalisationofRuralAreasandAgricultureintheEUDebate:HowFarfromWhatResearchSays?
haveaninfluenceonsocialinclusion(Rogers2003;vanDijk,Hacker2003;van
Dijk2006;Mitzneretal.2010).Intermsoftheinfrastructuralfactor,thelast-mile
problemandthereliabilityoftheservices(Warren2007;Philipetal.2017;Rowe
2003)andtheinvestmentintechnologiesviavariousdifferentpolicies(Salemnik,
Strijker,Bosworth2017;EC2013;Grimes2003)havebeenthemostfrequently
discussedissues.3
Toputitrathercolloquially,theinternet-themostimportantICTnowadays-
canbeused,forexamplebybusinesses,tosendinvoicestocustomersonlinerather
thanbypost.However,ifitisusedmostlyforthisreason,itcanbeassumedthat
thefeaturesofnewtechnologieshavenotbeenproperlyadopted,andthusthere
isnoneedtomakefurtherinvestmentintheprovisionofnewer,next-generation
ormorereliabletechnologies,becausesendinge-mailsdoesnotrequireit.We
doknow,however,thatsuchaneedexists,thatisinvestmentintechnologiesin
ruralareasfosterstheircompetitiveness(Naldietal.2015;EC2010b).Butsuch
investmentmustbeaccompaniedbyeducationandtrainingtomakeanyICTpolicy
work(Gillet2000).ThisalsoclarifieswhyintermsoftheroleofICTsinrural
developmentthefocusisontangiblebenefits.Forexample,H.Akca,M.Sayili,and
K.Esengun(2007)identifythefollowinginthetransitioncountriesspecifically:
e-tradeopportunities(inputsandoutputs),extensionltrainingactivitiesforrural
residents,advertisingruraltourismproducts,knowledgetransferfromurbanto
ruralareasandviceversa,handlingofficialprocedures(tax,banking)andusingGIS
fornatural-resourcemanagement.Fromtheperspectiveofruralbusinesspeople,
E.MaleckiandB.Moriset(2008)arguethatICTshelpwinnewmarkets,including
nicheandglobalones,facilitateaccesstoproductionfactorsandavoidunwanted
businesstrips.Fromtheperspectiveofemployees,thebenefitsfromremotework-
ingorteleworkingarewellrecognised.Themostfrequentlylistedincludeflexible
workinghours,thepossibilitytoshapeone’sownworkingenvironmentandthe
increaseinjobavailabilityforthosewhoareoutsidetypicalmodesofwork,for
exampledisabledpeople(Janc,Czapiewski2013;Tsiligirides1993).Whatcomes
fromtheaboveisthatthespecificuseofICTsineachofthefieldsofeconomic
activitymentionedgreatlydependsonwhere,bywhomandforwhatICTsare
used,andthespectrumofICTapplicationsiswide,whichnecessitatesmaking
ruralcommunitiesawareofallthesebenefits.
ThebenefitsfromICTsarealsoevidentinsocialactivity.Incontrasttothe
economicbenefits,theirtangibilityisnotsoobvious(cf.Malecki2003)asusers
valuethesesocialbenefitsindividuallyandsubjectively.Hereacademicshave
3Moregenerally,thisdebatecanbepositionedintheresearchonthediffusionoftechnologiesand
innovation(e.g.Baptista2001;Vicente,López2011).
WieśiRolnictwo2(183)/2019
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