Information and Communication Technologies and Rural Development (Territorial Economy)

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
			a) Issues
			b) Recommendations
Part II.  Case studies
	Geographical diversity
	Regions
	Sub-regions
	Communities
	Case Study 1.  The Poitou-Charentes Region and ICTS
		1. Background
		2. An ICT strategy
			a) Four goals for SERISE
			b) Five priority themes
		3. First initiatives in favour of rural areas
			a) SIRCE
			b) ARANTIS
			c) Outlook
	Case Study 2.  ICT strategies and projects in the rural areas of Mid-western and Southwestern Ireland
		Introduction: Information Society and New Economy in Ireland
		1. The Midwest programme for ICT and emphasis on rural areas
			a) Presentation of Shannon Information Society Partnership Programme (SHIPP)
			b) Shannon Digital Parks flagship project
			c) East Clare Telecottage: a local champion for the dissemination of ICT
			d) Ennis Information Age Town
		2. The Southwest strategy for ICT, societal and rural concerns
			a) Presentation of the South West Telematic Area Network Development (STAND), Regional Informatio...
			b) The Duagh Family Resource Centre: Information Society Access Point
			c) The Boherbue Comprehensive School, a pioneer in access to education for the disabled
			d) Bringing public services to remote areas: first application in telemedecine (dentistry)
		Conclusion
	Case Study 3.  The Highlands and Islands of Scotland and ICT
		1. Highlands and Islands Enterprise
		2. Infrastructure and ICT strategies
			a) Infrastructure
			b) ICT awareness and implementation
		3. Results achieved
			a) Telebusiness in Europe
			b) Telebusiness in the Highlands and Islands
			c) The future of telebusiness
		4. The Western Isles
			a) Telework
			b) Telebusiness and local SMEs
		5. Perspectives
			a) The emphasis on rural areas
			b) The importance of networks
			c) An open conclusion
	Case Study 4.  ICT in Matawinie (Quebec, Canada)
		Introduction
		1. Community Access Centers (CACs)
		2. Economic and social development initiatives
		3. SME training initiatives
	Case Study 5.  Keewaytinook Okimakanak Communities, Northwestern Ontario, Canada and ICT: the Kuh Ke Nah Network...
		Introduction
		1. Previous ICT projects
		2. The Kuh Ke Nah smart community
	Case Study 6.  Parthenay District, Pays de Gâtine (Deux-Sèvres, Poitou-Charentes, France) and ICT
		Introduction
		1. Start-up and development of digital age town project
			a) METASA (Multimedia European Experimental Town with a Social-Pull Approach)
			b) MIND (Multimedia Initiation of the Digital Towns)
			c) IMAGINE (Integrated Multimedia Applications Generating Innovative Networks in European Digital...
		2. The originality of the Parthenay digital age town project
			a) Objectives and ambitions of the project
			b) A local network
			c) Measures taken to accelerate the spread of ICTs
			d) The In-Town-Net
		3. Sectoral policies
			a) Economic development
			b) Local government and public services
			c) Social action
			d) Education
			e) Health
		4. La Gâtine and ICTs
		5. Prospects for ICT in Parthenay and the Pays de Gâtine
	Case Study 7.  A rural ICT training network: “Dillon-net”, Beaverhead, Madison and Silverbow Counties, Montana, USA
		Introduction
		1. The experience of Dillon-net
		2. New perspectives for Dillon-net
	Case Study 8.  Business and Technology Center in Maddock, Benson County, North Dakota, USA
		Introduction
		1. Putting it all together
		2. New business developments
		3. Future projects
Bibliography
Appendix 1.  Information and Communication Technologies and their implications for the development of rural areas
Appendix 2.  Internet sites consulted for this report
	Table 1. Access technologies transmission speed
	Table 2. Policies andprogrammes designed tobridge thedigital divide
	Figure 1. Internet access in the business sector by firm Figure 1. Internet access in the business sector by firm size