Horizon 2020 | DESIRA: Digitisation Economic and Social Impacts in Rural Areas

DESIRA: Digitisation Economic and Social Impacts in Rural Areas

DESIRA (Digitisation: Economic and Social Impacts in Rural Areas) is a Horizon 2020 project (2019-2023) coordinated by the University of Pisa which involves 25 partner organisations (research institutes, NGOs and SMEs) in a multi-actor and inter-disciplinary Consortium.

DESIRA will develop the concept of Socio-Cyber-Physical Systems to advance understanding of the impact of digitisation in rural areas, linking analysis directly to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The Consortium will work in an integrated manner to achieve the following project-specific objectives:

• fill the socio-economic knowledge gaps on digitalisation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas
• assess the past and current socio-economic impact of digitalisation in relation to SDGs
• improve the capacity of communities to reflect on future risks and opportunities of digitalisation
• improve the capacity of rural communities to reap the opportunities offered by digitisation and to improve resilience to related associated risks
• promote online and offline interaction and learning among a wide range of stakeholders
• increase the uptake of societal concerns in ICT-related policy and innovation, and to align digitalisation scenarios with societal needs and expectations

The project approaches all activities considering digitalisation as a process of social transformation driven by digital technologies. It acknowledges the transformative nature of digitalisation and the impacts it can have in shaping the way rural communities and actors learn, work, travel, interact, etc., acting as a ‘game changer’ for rural territories and sectors.

Official website

Grant agreement ID: 818194

Partnership: Athena – Research & Innovation Information Technologies, ATHENA RC – GREECE

Principal Investigator is Prof. Koundouri Members of the team are: Dr. Ebun Akinsete, Maria Lentoudi, Angelos Plataniotis