6533b86efe1ef96bd12cc89e

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Digital innovations in rural micro-enterprises

Tero TuovinenJaana Räisänen

subject

Knowledge managementkaupungitSociology and Political ScienceGeography Planning and DevelopmentInnovation diffusion0211 other engineering and technologies0507 social and economic geography02 engineering and technologyDevelopmentdigitalizationOrder (exchange)maaseutudigitalisaatiourban-rural digital divideomaksuminenDigital competencebusiness.industry05 social sciencesOpinion leadership021107 urban & regional planninginnovation adoptioninnovaatiotWork (electrical)innovation diffusionBusinessRural areaPositive attitudedigital innovations050703 geography

description

Digitalization gives micro-enterprises and rural areas new possibilities and it can support their competitiveness. In this paper, we have presented one way of supporting the diffusion and adoption of digital innovations in rural micro-enterprises. First, we examined the challenges and digital competence of the micro-enterprises in the rural areas of Central Finland to better understand what they needed. The second step was to develop a workshop concept. Theories of innovation diffusion and adoption were used as a base for these workshops. The last step was to evaluate the developed concept, its effects and challenges. We found that the workshop concept worked well for spreading information, for encouraging a positive attitude towards digital innovations, and for planning the use of innovations. Important factors in order for this concept to work were trust, communication, and changing the roles of agents and opinion leaders. peerReviewed

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2020-01-01Journal of Rural Studies
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.09.010