Information and Communication Technologies and Rural Development [electronic resource] /
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentContent Provider
Organisation for Economic Co operation and DevelopmentContent Provider
Paris : OECD Publishing,
2001.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) introduce a new relationship between time and space. Do the nascent possibilities of tele-work, distant access to public services and e-commerce offer both realistic and innovating perspectives for rural development? Are ICTs a threat rather than an opportunity for rural areas? Will these technologies increase the attractiveness of rural and remote areas or will they reinforce the influence of urban ones? ICTs and Rural Development sets out to answer these questions. Field research conducted in Canada, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States shows that rural development projects organised around ICTs have facilitated job creation as well as the emergence of a new environment favourable to the development of the community. Nonetheless, the success of such projects depends on a number of conditions. They are presented and analysed in this report.
Description based upon print version of record.
""Preface""; ""Foreword""; ""Table of Contents""; ""Introduction""; ""Mandate and method""; ""Part I.  ICT issues in rural areas""; ""Issues and perspectives""; ""Chapter 1.  Fundamental issues""; ""Introduction""; ""1. Telecommunications infrastructure and services in rural areas""; ""Introduction""; ""a) Technical and economic obstacles to ICTs in rural areas""; ""b) National initiatives and the increasing role of local authorities""; ""c) Successful examples of local public financing of telecommunications infrastructure""; ""2. ICT development models""; ""Introduction""
""a) Distinctive approaches to ICT development""""b) Endogenous and exogenous regional ICT development models""; ""c) Spatial policy and ICTs""; ""3. Observation and measurement in the field of ICT""; ""Introduction""; ""a) Collecting data on ICT in rural areas""; ""b) Monitoring of projects""; ""c) Best practices and qualitative results on the long term""; ""d) Guidelines""; ""Chapter 2.  Societal issues""; ""Introduction""; ""1. Public access points, telecottages and telecentres""; ""Introduction""; ""a) National policies in the field of public access points""
""b) Fundamental issues concerning public access points""""c) Perspectives for public access points""; ""2. On-line access to public services""; ""Introduction""; ""a) Distant education on-line""; ""b) Telemedecine""; ""c) Access to public services through the Internet""; ""3. Local governance""; ""Introduction""; ""a) The potential of e-democracy""; ""b) Local examples of emerging e-democracy practices""; ""c) Risks and opportunities of ICT in local governance from a regional perspective""; ""Chapter 3.  Economic issues""; ""Introduction""
""1. Small and medium size enterprises in rural areas and ICT""""Introduction""; ""a) ICT issues for rural SMEs""; ""b) Obstacles to full adoption of ICT by rural SMEs""; ""c) ICT policies for SMEs and examples of successful implementation""; ""2. The creation of new activities through ICT""; ""Introduction""; ""a) Telebusiness and call centres""; ""b) Telework""; ""c) Rural start-ups""; ""3. Conclusion: attractiveness of communities and territories""; ""Introduction""; ""a) Factors common to ICT policies and projects""; ""b) Social factors""; ""c) Economic factors""
""Chapter 4.  Policy recommendations""""1. Telecommunications infrastructure""; ""a) Issues""; ""b) Recommendations""; ""2. Implementation of ICT projects""; ""a) Issues""; ""b) Recommendations""; ""3. Observation and measurement of ICT in rural areas""; ""a) Issues""; ""b) Recommendations""; ""4. Public access points""; ""a) Issues""; ""b) Recommendations""; ""5. On-line access to public services""; ""a) Issues""; ""b) Recommendations""; ""6. Local governance""; ""a) Issues""; ""b) Recommendations""; ""7. Implementation of ICT by SMEs""; ""a) Issues""; ""b) Recommendations""
""8. Creation of new activities""
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) introduce a new relationship between time and space. Do the nascent possibilities of tele-work, distant access to public services and e-commerce offer both realistic and innovating perspectives for rural development? Are ICTs a threat rather than an opportunity for rural areas? Will these technologies increase the attractiveness of rural and remote areas or will they reinforce the influence of urban ones? ICTs and Rural Development sets out to answer these questions. Field research conducted in Canada, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States shows that rural development projects organised around ICTs have facilitated job creation as well as the emergence of a new environment favourable to the development of the community. Nonetheless, the success of such projects depends on a number of conditions. They are presented and analysed in this report.
Rural development
Rural development
Information and communications technologies