Research Article
Smart Village and Rural Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/eai.14-9-2021.2317178, author={Galuh Syahbana Indraprahasta and Anggini Dinaseviani and Ria Jayanthi}, title={Smart Village and Rural Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges}, proceedings={Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Rural Socio-Economic Transformation: Agrarian, Ecology, Communication and Community Development Perspectives, RUSET 2021, 14-15 September 2021, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia}, publisher={EAI}, proceedings_a={RUSET}, year={2022}, month={4}, keywords={banyuwangi digital technology rural transformation smart village}, doi={10.4108/eai.14-9-2021.2317178} }
- Galuh Syahbana Indraprahasta
Anggini Dinaseviani
Ria Jayanthi
Year: 2022
Smart Village and Rural Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges
RUSET
EAI
DOI: 10.4108/eai.14-9-2021.2317178
Abstract
This paper aims to shift the current geographical epicentrum by zooming in on the main issues surrounding ‘smart village’. Being often seen as a peripheral geographical unit, the diffusion of digital technology in rural areas is interestingly unavoidable. Technocrats from both developed and developing countries have been increasingly attracted by the promises offered by the utilization of digital technology for rural development. To this end, the objectives of this paper are twofold. First, this study sketchs what smart village actually means and how this concept has been adopted in several developing countries by virtue of literature review. Second, we use the case of Banyuwangi, Indonesia, to dissect the main drivers underlying smart village development. The data used for the second objective was mainly retrieved from a series of in-depth interviews with relevant actors in Banyuwangi in 2020 (online). This paper concludes the need to place smart villages as a means to achieve certain development priorities. In doing so, the three key drivers of smart villages, i.e., policy, technology, and human, should be utilized equally as (digital) technology alone is not enough to drive a city/region’s digital transformation.