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This paper examines the relationship between rural dwellers and Internet technology and aims to understand how that relationship is altered with a significant increase in broadband speed. It presents an argument for using 'resilience' as a framework for such technological impact research, positing its potential usefulness for identifying alternative development narratives. Using interview data from 36 individuals in a study conducted with two rural community-based superfast broadband organisations in the UK, it identifies whether superfast broadband plays a role in enhancing rural community resilience. Anticipated outcomes are identified including an increased use of high-capacity services, specifically video services, and also the potential for making new patterns and habits of usage through alternative connection possibilities. Superfast access is equated to increased control over everyday actions, and the need for speed is positioned in relation to the reliability that speed provides for users. Finally, the Internet is perceived broadly as an individualised tool, one that can be accessed for personal skill building, empowerment and ultimately individual scale resilience. These findings highlight the complex, and at times contradictory nature of the relationship between superfast broadband, rural users and potential individual and community resilience. This paper concludes by identifying future research directions.

Community-led broadband initiatives represent a relatively recent shift in rural broadband provision. They are locally-led organisations that voluntarily spring up to respond to the lack, or perceived lack, of adequate broadband in their communities. Particularly present in rural spaces, few studies have investigated this mode of broadband delivery, which is gaining attention in the United Kingdom and internationally. This paper seeks to explore the implications of the participatory nature of such broadband initiatives, identifying a) whether pursuing a participatory community-led model for broadband deployment plays a role in enhancing rural social resilience, and b) specifically how leadership and informal digital champions are positioned and perceived throughout this process, and their relationship with rural social resilience. The conceptual framework of 'social resilience' acts as a contemporary analytical tool for understanding the impact of community-led broadband. Using findings from 56 semi-structured interviews across two phases from two community-led broadband organisations, Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) in England and Broadband for Glencaple and Lowther (B4GAL) in Scotland, this paper contributes to both digital scholarship and the theoretical development of 'resilience' as a concept. Community-led broadband is shown to reflect a 'localism' development approach, and this process has strengthened local rural identity for individuals. The role of digital champions, as leaders in the community-led broadband movement, is key to developing the digital resource within rural communities. However, it can also be problematic, entrenching existing inequalities and feelings concerning exclusion, ultimately detracting from individuals' ability to participate. The process and the eventual presence of new technology have contributed to new spatial understandings of community identity, based on regional linkages, and new communities of interest. We conclude that communityled broadband, and in particular the leadership and participation processes, can contribute to social resilience overall, but ultimately is another example of uneven rural development.

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This paper outlines the development of a Rural Digital Hub Guide. Digital hubs comprise one of a range of solutions that policymakers can implement in rural regions to promote digital engagement among communities and businesses. The guide was developed as part of an Interreg VB North Sea Europe Programme which focussed on testing innovative solutions to the Urban-rural digital divide by improving digital skills, services and infrastructure. This paper explains how the Rural Digital Hub Guide was researched and developed, the creation of a typology of digital hubs and the key steps that policymakers need to consider when establishing a digital hub in their region.