Smart Villages and Investments to Public Services and ICT Infrastructure: Case of the Czech Rural Development Program 2007–2013

Abstract

The basis for SMART VILLAGE development is a high-quality infrastructure for civilian equipment and services, including the coverage of rural villages by high-speed Internet. The aim of the article is to evaluate the support and impacts of these activities through the Czech Rural Development Program in the period 2007–2013 and, according to the ex-post evaluation, to further identify policy-implications. The results of the analysis show a clear positive impact of the support of the service infrastructure on the development of supported municipalities, on the contrary, the results of supporting the connection of the rural population to the Internet are patchy.

What makes a smart village smart? A review of the literature

“…The term “smart” was explicitly defined in 16 references. In most cases, it was associated with innovation or digital technologies (Pělucha, 2020; Philip and Williams, 2019; Slee, 2019). Some authors though contested this view, claiming that SVs do not necessarily require the use of advanced technologies (Shuldiner, 2020; Wolski and Wójcik, 2019) but rather rely on the collective intelligence of rural communities and their collaboration with multiple stakeholders (Zavratnik et al , 2020; Bielska et al , 2021).…”

“…The literature described the SVs implemented in Africa, Asia and Latin America as focusing on advanced practices for agriculture (Adesipo et al , 2020; Aggarwal et al , 2018) and the enhancement of public services such as health and education (Aziiza and Susanto, 2020; Malek and Tahir, 2017). The role of agriculture was debated by European scholars too; according to Pělucha (2020), SVs should go beyond smart agriculture, whose centrality was, instead, defended by Bisaga (2019). However, SVs in Europe were mostly described as providing innovative services (such as smart tourism, e-health care and smart mobility), combining ICT with social entrepreneurship (Slee, 2019; Ballina, 2020).…”

“…Researchers with an engineering or technical background have often contributed to these projects, with the development of smart artefacts purposely designed for rural users (Larsen and Estes, 2019; Ouédraogo et al , 2019). More recently social scientists have also engaged with SVs, focusing on their management and impact upon rural communities (Pělucha, 2020; Despotović, 2020).…”

Smart Villages Policies: Past, Present and Future

“…Countries that engage with this concept started implementing their actions into practices. Interesting examples can be found in a number of countries, such as Slovenia [15], Czech Republic [8], Germany [38] France [39], Finland [40], Italy [41], as well as globally such as in Indonesia [42], Korea [43], Ghana [44], India [45], East Africa [46].…”

“…Although the concept of a Smart Village is most frequently linked to agriculture, it goes far beyond it. It represents a broader concept, covering heterogeneous activities, mainly supported and empowered technology, that act as tools for improving services in rural areas and make the rural functioning easier and smoother, leading to the overall enhancement of rural village dwellers [8].…”