Towards socio-digital rural territories to drive digital transformation

General conceptualisation and application to the olive areas of Andalusia, Spain

Bibliographic Data

ID8946472
AuthorsLiliana Reina-Usuga (0000-0002-0935-6834, Universidad de Málaga, corresponding author), C Parra-López (0000-0003-4923-4169, Andalusian Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training), Pedro Sánchez‐Zamora (0000-0002-2331-602X, University of Córdoba), Pedro Sánchez-Zamora, Carmen Carmona-Torres (0000-0002-6982-1363, Andalusian Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training)
Year2023
Volume145
Pages103827-103827
Publication date2023-07-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeoforum (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7185 • E-ISSN: 1872-9398
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103827
OpenAlexW4385143991
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited88

The future of rural areas, in different geographical contexts around the world, faces enormous challenges and uncertainties, with the emergence of complex territorial dynamics. One of the main disruptive factors underlying the current challenges in rural realities is digital transformation (DT). This study has two objectives: 1) to develop a theoretical framework for the analysis of DT in rural areas from a territorial perspective, through the proposal of the concept of ‘socio-digital rural territories’ (SDRT); and 2) to analyse the specific case of the olive areas of Andalusia where DT is starting in recent years. For this purpose, Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques are used, both to build the theoretical framework and to evaluate the concepts developed at a practical level in the case study. The results obtained show that addressing DT in rural areas from a territorial approach should consider the technological innovation system (TIS) and relational social capital (RSC), embedded in the technological and social dimensions of a territory, as key elements to promote successful dynamics towards a SDRT. On the other hand, the analysis of the DT network in the olive-growing areas of Andalusia (the DT olive network) shows that the actors that stand out for their role as knowledge emitters include digital technologies companies, knowledge generation agents, knowledge transfer agents and the scientific and informative media. On the contrary, the main receiving knowledge actors are olive growers, cooperatives or cooperative groups, non-cooperative groups and agricultural organisations. The density of connections in the network is high considering the type of actors and connections analysed. The DT olive network has a high potential for the creation of RSC. Thus, there is bonding capital, in which a high number of connections between actors predominate, although with low homogeneity in the typology of actors. And there is bridging capital, in which organisations of different types participate, and as it is a decentralised network, it favours the lack of concentration of power. Finally, this article offers a novel explanation of how knowledge is exchanged and created in a social network, and how this exchange creates new intellectual capital. This capital, which in the case of DT is territorial digital capital, is translated into digital technologies. The results indicate that the DT olive network and its RSC lead to the potential formation of an SDRT in Andalusian olive areas

Agriculture · Business · Digital transformation · Economic geography · Geography · Knowledge management · Knowledge transfer · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Product (mathematics · Regional science · Rural area · Social capital · Social network analysis · Social science · Sociology · Sociotechnical system · Computer Science · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Marketing · Sharing Economy and Platforms

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