Is the Rural Population Caught in the Whirlwind of the Digital Divide?
Technology represents a benchmark ally for today’s rural world and is a sine qua non-condition for achieving sustainable development. Indeed, today the arrival of digitization and information and communication tools makes life easier for the inhabitants of the rural world in general and for those wh...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/12/1976 |
| _version_ | 1797462018631925760 |
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| author | Hayet Kerras María Francisca Rosique Contreras Susana Bautista María Dolores de-Miguel Gómez |
| author_facet | Hayet Kerras María Francisca Rosique Contreras Susana Bautista María Dolores de-Miguel Gómez |
| author_sort | Hayet Kerras |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Technology represents a benchmark ally for today’s rural world and is a sine qua non-condition for achieving sustainable development. Indeed, today the arrival of digitization and information and communication tools makes life easier for the inhabitants of the rural world in general and for those who work in agriculture. However, not everyone has and knows how to use these technologies. There are very visible differences between the rural world and the urban one in the accessibility and use of technology, especially among vulnerable people (unemployed, elderly, women, etc.), causing a digital divide that reflects the great discrimination suffered by the rural world, full of stereotypes and very traditional role assignments. The objective of this study is to evaluate the differences in terms of access and use of technology. For this reason, the results of a survey carried out on the Spanish rural population have been analyzed with the structural equations tool “PLS-SEM”. They show digital gaps, as well as a disturbance between the different gaps and the socioeconomic situation of users, which imposes the need to take immediate measures to reduce and fight against this type of inequality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:27:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fb11a1c2a61648598d63efb1323f35e0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:27:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-fb11a1c2a61648598d63efb1323f35e02023-11-24T12:39:11ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722022-11-011212197610.3390/agriculture12121976Is the Rural Population Caught in the Whirlwind of the Digital Divide?Hayet Kerras0María Francisca Rosique Contreras1Susana Bautista2María Dolores de-Miguel Gómez3Departamento de Economía de la Empresa, Escuela Técnica Superior Ingeniería Agronómica (ETSIA), Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Paseo Alfonso XIII, 48, 30203 Cartagena, SpainDepartamento de Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Telecomunicación (ETSIT), Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Edificio Cuartel de Antigones, Plaza del Hospital, 1, 30202 Cartagena, SpainEscuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Ctra. Pozuelo-Majadahonda, Km 1.800, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, SpainDepartamento de Economía de la Empresa, Escuela Técnica Superior Ingeniería Agronómica (ETSIA), Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Paseo Alfonso XIII, 48, 30203 Cartagena, SpainTechnology represents a benchmark ally for today’s rural world and is a sine qua non-condition for achieving sustainable development. Indeed, today the arrival of digitization and information and communication tools makes life easier for the inhabitants of the rural world in general and for those who work in agriculture. However, not everyone has and knows how to use these technologies. There are very visible differences between the rural world and the urban one in the accessibility and use of technology, especially among vulnerable people (unemployed, elderly, women, etc.), causing a digital divide that reflects the great discrimination suffered by the rural world, full of stereotypes and very traditional role assignments. The objective of this study is to evaluate the differences in terms of access and use of technology. For this reason, the results of a survey carried out on the Spanish rural population have been analyzed with the structural equations tool “PLS-SEM”. They show digital gaps, as well as a disturbance between the different gaps and the socioeconomic situation of users, which imposes the need to take immediate measures to reduce and fight against this type of inequality.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/12/1976sustainable development goalsagri-food securityequalityinformation and communication technologiestechnology 4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Hayet Kerras María Francisca Rosique Contreras Susana Bautista María Dolores de-Miguel Gómez Is the Rural Population Caught in the Whirlwind of the Digital Divide? Agriculture sustainable development goals agri-food security equality information and communication technologies technology 4.0 |
| title | Is the Rural Population Caught in the Whirlwind of the Digital Divide? |
| title_full | Is the Rural Population Caught in the Whirlwind of the Digital Divide? |
| title_fullStr | Is the Rural Population Caught in the Whirlwind of the Digital Divide? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is the Rural Population Caught in the Whirlwind of the Digital Divide? |
| title_short | Is the Rural Population Caught in the Whirlwind of the Digital Divide? |
| title_sort | is the rural population caught in the whirlwind of the digital divide |
| topic | sustainable development goals agri-food security equality information and communication technologies technology 4.0 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/12/1976 |
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