DVI Readiness Assessment Tool
The DVI Readiness Assessment Tool is a simple and user-friendly tool to assess “readiness”, namely the preconditions, preparedness and overall maturity of a particular rural community to participate in the Digital Villages Initiative.
Assessment criteria
Internet connectivity is a key precondition to initiate a digital rural transformation process, but it is not the only digital enabler. The ownership, use and availability of digital devices and services and the capacities of the rural community to meaningfully use them are critical factors for the success of DVI. Under the DVI Readiness Assessment Tool’s digital ecosystem dimension, the evaluator assesses the digital development dynamics in the village by analysing the following three enabling factors:
Digital infrastructure: availability, speed and quality of internet connection (fixed and mobile), its equitable access and use, underpinned by the following criteria:
1. Mobile internet connectivity, describing the level of equal access (availability and quality) to a mobile internet connection by the rural community;
2. Fixed internet connectivity, describing the level of equal access (availability and quality) to a fixed internet connection by the rural community.
Digital penetration: the ownership of digital devices and their usage, as well as the availability of digital services (digital supply) and the level of uptake of digital technologies in the rural community, underpinned by the following criteria:
3. Digital device ownership and use, referring to the level of ownership of digital devices, such as smartphones, PCs, laptops, or tablets and whether those are productively used by the rural community.
4. Digital supply, assessing the availability of digital services by the rural community that address their needs, from basic information services (e.g. weather forecasts) to more advanced ones (e.g. real-time advisory services and data).
5. Digital adoption, describing the level of application of digital technologies, products and services in the agrifood sector in the rural community.
Digital capacities: the digital literacy level in the rural community as well as the extent to which there are actors able to sustain the digital transformation process in the community, underpinned by the following criteria:
6. Digital literacy, describing the level of digital skills and capabilities to implement digital solutions for agriculture and food sectors in the rural community.
7. Digital stakeholders, assessing the extent to which actors (scientific and technological entities, higher education institutions, service providers, start-ups, innovation hubs, etc.) are present and can sustain a digital rural transformation process in the community.
The accomplishment of any digital rural development process is only possible if the stakeholders have the ability to implement DVI activities. Under this dimension, the evaluator assesses the mechanisms of collaboration between stakeholders and actors that may be involved in the digital rural transformation process, as well as their ability to act, share and integrate knowledge and technologies, by analysing the following three enabling factors:
Human capital: rural people’s receptiveness to change, their capacity to learn, assimilate and put external knowledge into practice, their interest and the capacity to consolidate the knowledge and experiences transferred, and to understand and tackle current and future challenges, underpinned by the following criteria:
8. Absorptive capacity (ability to learn), helping to understand if the village demonstrated openness to change and ability to learn, and to assimilate and use external knowledge, research and practice.
9. Ability to act, assessing the ability of the rural community to understand its challenges and opportunities and to react to them.
Governance: the political and institutional support, both from public and non-public institutions, as well as the collaboration dynamics between the relevant stakeholders (external actors and those directly benefiting from the development process), underpinned by the following criteria:
10. Public governance, describing the level of support by the public actors for rural development and digitalization in the community.
11. Non-governmental support, describing the level of support by non-public institutions, such as civil society organizations (CSOs) and research entities, to rural development and digitalization in the community.
Leadership: the existence of 'leading figure(s)' (individuals or entities) that can lead the digital rural transformation at village level; the willingness of the rural community to commit to the digital rural transformation process, underpinned by the following criteria:
12. Actors’ activation, bringing insights into the capacity and motivation of local stakeholders to start and engage in a digital rural transformation process.
13. Leading figures, describing local champions and leading figures or entities that could drive the digital rural transformation process.
The local endogenous and economic resources and assets, as well as the alignment with other development plans, can also be considered as important elements for the success of the digital rural transformation process. Under this dimension, the evaluator analyses the following enabling factors:
Endogenous resources: the level of natural, historical, traditional and cultural resources in the rural community, underpinned by the following criterion:
14. Endogenous development potential, describing the potential of natural, historical, traditional and cultural resources in the rural area.
Strategic fit: how DVI aligns with and complements existing local development strategies, projects and programmes, underpinned by the following criterion:
15. Strategic alignment, assessing the complementarity of the Digital Villages Initiative with local development strategies and projects and programmes.
Economic resources: the economic relevance of the food and agriculture sectors in the local economy, as well as the level of financial resources available to support the digital rural transformation process, underpinned by the following criteria:
16. Economic relevance of food and agriculture, enquiring about the importance of the agrifood sector in the local economy and the share of people whose livelihoods depend on agriculture.
17. Financial resources, determining the level of financial resources available to support the digital transformation process.
Assessment score
The village’s final score provides a means of determining its overall level of readiness to engage in the DVI transformation process.
In blossoming villages, a digital transformation strategy is already in place, ensuring tailored solutions in response to specific needs and challenges. At this maturity level, new practices, business models, products and services, are expected to emerge, as well as cultural and behavioural changes.
At this stage the village should focus on ongoing process improvement and on sharing its good practices with others. These are the most suitable villages to participate in twinning activities aimed at knowledge and technology transfer.
Growing villages have already made some progress on their digital rural transformation journey. A local development strategy may have been developed, ensuring that challenges are understood and that actions are identified in response to specific needs. In addition, good practices and some digital solutions and services may already be developed or in use in agriculture, with opportunities to scale their uptake, including to vulnerable groups. DVI interventions at this level should be aimed at transforming the village into a Digital Village through, for example:
- twinning relationships with other rural communities to foster a dynamic exchange of knowledge, good practices and technologies;
- creation of digital hubs or “living labs” where the community is enabled to co-design and co-create digital innovations with the support of entrepreneurs, research institutes and academia;
- application of advanced technologies, such as iInternet-of-things, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, big data, agrobots, and blockchain in agriculture; and
- scaling up digital solutions or services and best practices that are already in use in the community, especially ones targeting vulnerable groups.
Sprouting villages are at the beginning of their digital rural transformation journey; while showing progress in certain areas, there is still development to be made. Basic governance structures may be in place and rural people may possess mobile phones, basic digital skills and may be using some mobile applications to communicate. These rural communities can be targeted with appropriate DVI interventions to progress in identified areas, such as:
- provision of training to stimulate digital literacy and application of ICT specifically in agriculture;
- initiation of collaborations with academia, research institutes and the private sector;
- promotion of ‘digital champions’ to advocate for and raise awareness of ICT;
- digital marketing activities to promote agritourism; and
- provision of digital advisory services through SMS or messaging apps.
In seed villages, the key enabling conditions are weak as they are still at the very beginning of their digital rural transformation journey, missing the necessary governance and leadership structures and with limited strategic resources to build upon. These rural communities may be targeted with appropriate interventions to develop the enabling conditions for a successful DVI transformation, such as:
- hard investments in infrastructure to increase internet availability, and/or to create free wi-fi zones; and
- policy interventions that enhance human and social capital, foster the creation of a governance system and enable the area’s socio-economic strategic vision.