Digital
Ruralit
9th December, 2024
y
Agenda
Introduction
01 What is Rurality? 03 Global Examples of
Digital Rurality
Programs
02 What is Digital 04 Digital Rurality
Rurality programs in Nigeria
Agenda
1 2 3
Significance of Challenges in Drivers of Digital
Digital Rurality Digital Rulaity Rurality
• There is no universally acceptable
definition
What is • Any population, housing, or territory
not in an urban area (Census Bureau)
Rurality • A local administrative unit with a
? population density of less than 150
people per square kilometre (UNDP)
• A condition of place-based homeliness
shared by people with common
ancestry or heritage and who inhabit
culturally defined areas (Cloke, 1977)
What is
Digital
Rurality
?
• 20th century upgrade in western societies
• ‘The rural penalty’ (Malecki, 2023)
• The unique challenges faced by rural areas in
achieving access to digital infrastructure; digital
divide in rural and urban areas (Dunstan et al, 2021)
• Rural areas receiving high-speed internet
connections last due to the high costs and low
economic incentives (Hollman et al, 2021)
• Digitalization of rural life through technology to
change habits of rural residents (Xiong et al, 2024)
• Digital transformation of rural areas (Ferrari et al,
2022)
• Maintenance of the Quality of Life (QoL) in rural
spaces
Global Examples of Digital Rurality
Programs
• United States - The Office of Rural • China - Strategic Outline for the
Development of the Federal Department of Development of Digital Villages, 2019
Agriculture • Australia - Horizon Power and Australia’s
• The European Union - European Union Smart first renewable hydrogen micro grids
Villages Initiative and Development Smart • Ghana - Rural Development Policy, 2019
Innovation through Research in Agriculture
(DeSIRA)
• Armenia - Digital Transformation Agenda 2030
and the Digitalization Strategy 2021–2025
01 Rural Broadband Initiative (RUBI),
Digital 02
2020
Rural Information Technology
Rurality
Centres (RITCs) initiative
03 Nigerian e-Government Master
Plan, 2018
Program 04 National Digital Economy Policy
and Strategy (NDEPS) , 2019
s in 05 Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A),
2019
06 Community and Social
Nigeria Development Project (CSDP)
(2009-2021), rural areas across 29
states
Significance of Digital Rurality
Agriculture Women Marketing
Empowerment
Significance of Digital Rurality
Tourism Education Bridging Skills Gap
Significance of Digital Rurality
Food Quality Broadband Agriculture
and Safety Connection
Barriers to
Digital
Rurality
The three main barriers:
• Socio-cultural Barriers
• Economic Barriers
• Technical Barriers
Drivers of Digital
Rurality
0 Simplicity 0 Practicability 0 Reduced Cost
1 2 3
0 Cultural Sensitivity 0 Transparency 0 Education and
Training
4 5 6
Th a n k
Yo u !