Rural Development in the Digital Age: Exploring Information and Communication Technology through Social Inclusion, Journal of Rural Sociology

This Rural Sociological Society Presidential Address, Exploring Information and Communication Technology through Social Inclusion, written by SRDC Director, Dr. John J. Green; considers how information and communication technologies (ICTs) influence our capabilities to choose and navigate where to go and how to get there. Access along with the literacy and skills needed for effective and safe use of ICTs are increasingly influential factors for livelihoods in the so-called digital age, impacting wellbeing and resilience. Rural-focused social scientists can help to inform livelihood journeys, especially by asking questions about the inter-play between ICTs and social inclusion to involve often-overlooked spatial dimensions at the local and regional levels. Doing so will require dialogue, discernment, and active engagement on the topics we explore, the research methods we employ, and incorporation of the experiences, needs, and desires of rural people and places in policies and programs. As a professional association built on diverse scholarly traditions yet rooted in a shared interest for practical application for the benefit of often excluded people and places, the Rural Sociological Society has important roles to play in the digital age.