Information and Communication Technologies in Rural Society

✍ Scribed by Grete Rusten, Sarah Skerratt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 200
• Series: Routledge Studies in Technology, Work and Organizations
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Drawing together the experiences of individuals, households and businesses, this book offers an international perspective on the on how and the extent to which the experiential nature of being rural, whether as an business manager in an SME (or micro-enterprise), a non-business person, a retired inhabitant or a housewife is changing as Information and Communication Technologies become applied more widely and allow people to be connected across geographies.

The contributors investigate ways in which these ICTs are being variously experienced in rural areas of Europe, providing a commentary on changing ruralities and their implications for European, national and regional Information Society policies. These changing ruralities are presented here as the lived experiences of individuals, businesses and communities, and the ways in which their experiences are being enhanced, undermined and variously modified through application of ICTs within business, home, leisure and social relations. The book examines the space and place implications of these changes, as reported in a range of rural settings within Scandinavia and Western Europe.

An essential read for economists interested in the area, Information and Communication Technologies in Rural Society will benefit postgraduate students in areas of research such as rural development, regional development and new technology management among others.

✦ Table of Contents

Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Illustrations......Page 10
Contributors......Page 12
Foreword......Page 15
Acknowledgements......Page 17
1 Being rural in a digital age......Page 18
Part I: Understanding ICTs in rural SMEs......Page 34
2 Lost in cyberspace? Website performance among firms located in rural areas of Norway: The niche food sector......Page 36
3 Lone Eagles and High Fliers: Rural-based business and professional service firms and information communication technology......Page 53
Part II: The persistence of place......Page 78
4 Connecting local food to global consumers via the Internet......Page 80
5 The persistence of place: The importance of shared participation environments when deploying ICTs in rural areas......Page 100
Part III: The importance of social and cultural ‘fit’ of ICTs in rural areas......Page 122
6 Digital divides within households......Page 124
7 Revitalising rural Europe’s indigenous languages: ‘Technologisation’ and the Gaelic language......Page 142
Part IV: Implications for the feasibility and trajectory of Information-Society policies......Page 170
8 Policy and the rural Information Society......Page 172
Postscript......Page 192
Index......Page 195