Rural Development: Using Digital Technologies to Bridge the Urban-Rural Divide, Promote Economic Opportunities, and Support Sustainable Livelihoods

Abstract

Urban-rural dichotomy is a poaching challenge to inclusive economic growth and sustainable development across the world. Such imbalance is commonly defined by unequal access to infrastructure, economic opportunities and good public services. This paper discusses how digital technologies, such as broadband, mobile applications, e-commerce, and precision farming tools, are transformative solutions that can be important tools in bridging this gap, economic opportunities, and sustainable livelihoods in rural society. The main hypothesis is that the traditional "urban bias" can be reversed by using specific digital interventions to reduce the transaction costs, widen the market reach, and decentralize the access to knowledge and finance.