Grupo ARCO and SMART Rural – digitization of rural areas
El ARCO Research Group of the Higher School of Informatics and the University of Castilla-La Mancha participates in the initiative of the Government for the creation of the Ecosystem of Smart Rural Territory in the region. The objective of the plan is to develop and improve the social, economic and environmental conditions of rural areas through digitization and sustainability. The ARCO group participates in the first phases of the development of the Plan, studying success stories at a national and international level, analyzing the service needs of the rural areas of the region in a global way, defining use cases and proposing the technologies that could offer solutions. efficient to them.
El Government of Castile-La Mancha presented in Toledo the Intelligent Rural Territory Plan that will involve an investment of 25 million euros from FEDER funds. It seeks to advance in the digitization of public services in municipalities with less than 5.000 inhabitants with the implementation of smart solutions. In addition, the 'Smart Office' has been created, which will serve as a one-stop shop for advice, training and innovation for municipalities in their digitization process.
The regional vice president, José Luis Martínez Guijarro, explained that the plan seeks to end the digital divide between cities and towns to promote the development of opportunities offered by digitization and connectivity in these areas. The Minister of Sustainable Development, José Luis Escudero, has pointed out some specific examples in which technological solutions can be applied, such as the collection of urban waste, the management of parks and gardens and intelligent access and capacity control in natural spaces.
'Smart Rural' becomes a pioneering tool to improve the provision of services to the inhabitants of rural areas of Castilla-La Mancha. The plan seeks to deal with the phenomenon of depopulation and guarantee access to public services, breaking the existing digital gap between cities and rural areas.
