DEVELOPMENT OF SMART VILLAGES AS A FACTOR FOR RURAL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Authors

  • Renāte Cāne Faculty of Society and Science, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17770/etr2021vol1.6553

Keywords:

digitally skilled society, digital transformation, rural development, smart villages

Abstract

The concept of digital transformation, which refers to the use of strategically managed digital technologies to achieve various economic and social goals, is increasingly visible in various development programs of the European Union and Latvia. The aim of the digital transformation is to create a society, economy and public administration that purposefully uses the existing and creates new opportunities of digital technologies, improving the quality of life for every individual and society as well, raising the competitiveness of the country and economy. The National Development Plan of Latvia for 2021-2027 also identifies the further development of digitalization as a pervasive element for all sectors, especially in such areas as innovation and science, education, health care, inclusive society and labor market, infrastructure, regional development, security, as well as also environment and energy. In order to do this, the “Digital Transformation Guidelines for 2021-2027” have been developed, which set out the goals, directions and tasks of the digital transformation policy. One of the basic conditions for digital transformation is a digitally skilled society. To develop the rural environment, including through digital solutions, an initiative supported by the European Commission – ‘Smart Villages’, has been in place since 2016. It is a relatively new concept in EU policy-making and includes a vision for the future of rural areas. ‘Smart’, in the sense of this concept, means the development of new forms of cooperation – between farmers and other entrepreneurs in rural areas, between municipalities, the private and public sectors, and cooperation takes place from the bottom up and from the top down. Smart village strategies can ensure that the digital needs, priorities and capabilities of the rural population are addressed at local level and can help to link these core activities to national and regional digital strategies. The aim of the research is to study the development opportunities of smart villages and their potential in the process of digital transformation of the rural environment. The study carried out an analysis of the rural and regional policies, as well as digital transformation strategic documents. The article also examines examples of the use of digital solutions in smart villages in European countries. The study concludes that the introduction of the concept of smart villages is an effective tool for digital transformation in rural areas, both processes have a common goal and tasks, the most important of which is to take actions to prevent working-age persons from leaving local areas, moving to the capital city Riga or leaving Latvia.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Renāte Cāne, Faculty of Society and Science, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences
    Dr.sc.soc. (PhD), assistant professor, Faculty of Society and Science

References

T. Saldanha, Why Digital Transformations Fails: The Surprising Disciplines of How to Take Off and Stay Ahead. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2019.

R. Morakanyane, A. Grace, P. O’Reilly, Conceptualizing Digital Transformation in Business Organizations: A Systematic Review of Literature. University of Maribor Press, 2017.

D. Rogers, The Design Thinking Playbook. ASV: Springer (2016).

About the Government Digital Service, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://gds.blog.gov.uk/about/ [Accessed: March 21, 2021.]

Digitālās transformācijas pamatnostādnes 2021.-2027.gadam, Projekts, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.varam.gov.lv/sites/varam/files/content/files/digitalas-transformacijas-pamatnostadnes-_2021-27.pdf [Accessed: March 12, 2021]

OECD, Going Digital in a Multilateral World, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.oecd.org/going-digital/C-MIN-2018-6-EN.pdf [Accessed: March 20, 2021]

Centrālās Statistikas pārvaldes datubāzes, Iedzīvotāji, Teritoriālā statistika, RIG060 Pilsētu un lauku iedzīvotaju skaits reģionos, pilsētās, novados un pagastos (eksperimentālā statistika). [Online]. Available: https://data.csb.gov.lv/pxweb/lv/iedz/iedz__riga/RIG060.px [Accessed: March 3, 2021]

European Commission, EU Action for Smart Villages. [Online]. Available: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/food-farming-fisheries/key_policies/documents/rur-dev-small-villages_en.pdf [Accessed: March 6, 2021]

European Network of Rural Development, How to support Smart Villages strategies which effectively empower rural communities? Orientations for policy-makers and implementers. [Online]. Available: https://enrd.ec.europa.eu/sites/enrd/files/enrd_publications/smart-villages_orientations_sv-strategies.pdf [Accessed: March 6, 2021]

Smart Villages, when technology arrives at a village to stay. [Online]. Available: https://www.iberdrola.com/innovation/smart-village-smart-towns [Accessed: March 15, 2021]

Projekt „Digitale Dörfer“ – Land fördert Testregionen Betzdorf und Eisenberg/Göllheim. [Online]. Available: https://www.digitale-doerfer.de/projekt-digitale-doerfer-land-foerdert-testregionen-betzdorf-und-eisenberggoellheim/ [Accessed: March 6, 2021]

The ‘Preparatory Action on Smart Rural Areas in the 21st Century’, The Smart Rural 21 Project. [Online]. Available: https://www.smartrural21.eu/smart-rural-21-project/about/ [Accessed: March 16, 2021]

Lauku tīkls, Kāds ir īstens viedais ciems. [Online]. Available: http://www.laukutikls.lv/nozares/lauku-telpa/raksti/kads-ir-istens-viedais-ciems [Accessed: March 2, 2021]

Projekts “Ceļā uz viedumu piekrastēs”. [Online]. Available: https://juraszeme.lv/sadarbibas-projekti/projekts-cela-uz-viedumu-piekrastes/ [Accessed: May 8, 2021]

Sākusies pieteikumu vērtēšana atpazīstamības zīmes “Viedais Ciems” piešķiršanai. [Online]. Available: https://laukuforums.lv/lv/archives/12220 [Accessed: May 8, 2021]

Atpazīstamības zīmes „Viedais Ciems” piešķiršanas kritēriji. [Online]. Available: https://laukuforums.lv/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/11012021_Kriteriji_ViedsCiems.pdf [Accessed: May 8, 2021]

Ā. Ādlers, Kas ir viedais ciems. Projekts “Viedo Ciemu attīstības piekrastes teritorijā”, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://lrpartneriba.lv/wp-content/uploads/Viedie_Ciemi.pptx.pdf [Accessed: March 8, 2021]

Smart Villages, when technology arrives at a village to stay. [Online]. Available: https://www.iberdrola.com/innovation/smart-village-smart-towns [Accessed: March 20, 2021]

R. Strazdiņa, Digitālās transformācijas stratēģijas īstenošana nav atliekama, portāls Ir.lv, 9.02.2021. [Online]. Availaible: https://ir.lv/2021/02/09/digitalas-transformacijas-strategijas-istenosana-nav-atliekama/ [Accessed: March 20, 2021]

Digitālās transformācijas pamatnostādnes 2021.-2027.gadam, Projekts, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.varam.gov.lv/sites/varam/files/content/files/digitalas-transformacijas-pamatnostadnes-_2021-27.pdf [Accessed: March 20, 2021]

Downloads

Published

2021-06-16

How to Cite

[1]
R. Cāne, “DEVELOPMENT OF SMART VILLAGES AS A FACTOR FOR RURAL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION”, ETR, vol. 1, pp. 43–49, Jun. 2021, doi: 10.17770/etr2021vol1.6553.