- Rural areas benefit from digitalisation mainly in terms of jobs and employment, according to 28.8% of respondents
- One in five (19.3%) say that mobility and transport services in particular make rural areas more attractive.
Digitalisation offers rural areas a wide range of opportunities to catch up with metropolitan areas in terms of attractiveness. Around four out of five Germans (80.4 per cent) believe this, according to a representative survey conducted by the market and opinion research institute Civey on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. Around one in three (28.8 per cent) believe that people will particularly benefit in terms of jobs and employment. One in five (19.3 percent) see the greatest benefits of digitalisation in mobility and transport services in rural areas. Improved healthcare was cited by 18 per cent and education by 8 per cent. Improving the cultural offer in rural areas through digitalisation was given the highest priority by 3.4 percent of respondents.
“Efficient digital infrastructures allow people in rural areas to be productive while working from home, to use new mobility services via their smartphone or to receive medical advice via video consultations. In addition to the already high quality of life that rural areas offer compared to urban centres, digital services via the Internet will open up further advantages that were previously mostly reserved for people in cities,” says eco’s Managing Director Alexander Rabe.
Rural areas benefit from digitalisation
“Overcoming distances via videoconferencing or better educational opportunities via digital platforms will make life in villages more attractive, especially for young people.” More and more companies and organisations are giving their employees the freedom to organise their work and training in an open way.
“This requires nationwide access to broadband Internet connections and a densely developed mobile network with high data transfer rates. Industry and politics must now implement the German federal government’s gigabit strategy as quickly as possible and drive forward the gigabit rollout hand in hand in order to digitally connect rural areas. This is the only way to create equal living opportunities throughout Germany and strengthen services of general interest in rural areas,” says Alexander Rabe.
