Login (DCU Staff Only)
Login (DCU Staff Only)

DORAS | DCU Research Repository

Explore open access research and scholarly works from DCU

Advanced Search

Digital Towns: Accelerating and Measuring the Digital Transformation of Rural Societies and Economies

Lynn, Theo orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-9284-7580, Rosati, Pierangelo orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-6070-0426, Conway, Edel orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-0290-9894, Curran, Declan orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-0788-1210, Fox, Grace orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-1392-6833 and O'Gorman, Colm orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-4732-7433 (2022) Digital Towns: Accelerating and Measuring the Digital Transformation of Rural Societies and Economies. Palgrave Macmillan Cham, Switzerland. ISBN 978-3-030-91247-5

Abstract
This open access book explores the digital transformation of small and rural towns, in particular, how to measure the evolution and development of digital towns. In addition to access to resources, competition from urban and global markets, and population trends, rural communities present lesser access and use of digital technologies and have lower digital competencies and skills than their urban counterparts. Consequently, they experience less beneficial outcomes from increased digitalisation than urban areas. This book defines what a digital town is and explores digitalisation from the perspective of the four basic economic sectors in towns - individuals and households, businesses, the public sector, and civil society - and three types of enabling infrastructure - digital connectivity, education, and governance. Particular attention is paid to how digitalisation efforts are measured by intergovernmental and international organisations for each sector and enabling infrastructure. The book concludes with a Digital Town Readiness Framework that offers local communities, policymakers, and scholars an initial set of indicators upon which to develop digital town initiatives, and measure progress. For those ready to embrace the opportunity, this book is a pathfinder on the road to a more equitable and impactful digital society and digital economy.
Metadata
Item Type:Book
Refereed:Yes
Subjects:Business > Economic policy
Business > Business ethics
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > DCU Business School
Publisher:Palgrave Macmillan Cham
Official URL:https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-9...
Copyright Information:The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
ID Code:32822
Deposited On:01 Jul 2026 10:11 by Tam Nguyen . Last Modified 01 Jul 2026 10:11
Documents

Full text available as:

[thumbnail of 978-3-030-91247-5.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
2MB
Downloads

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Archive Staff Only: edit this record