To reinforce the revitalization of the countryside and support local initiatives, the Government has set up an action plan for rural areas. This " Rural Agenda "was presented by the Prime Minister at the Congress of the Association of Rural Mayors of France on September 20. Among the 173 measures of the Rural Agenda, a number aim to ensure access to digital services, rely on digital technology to provide solutions or are part of a digital inclusion approach.

 Rural territories: a feeling of digital exclusion

A whole series of indicators suggest that the inhabitants of these territories are among those who benefit the least from digital opportunities today.

• Higher rate of non-users in rural areas
• Less use of digital services
• A lower propensity to adopt new digital technologies or services
• A sense of digital exclusion

Next: Rural-urban gaps in access and use of digital services persist

1000 cafés for rural villages: call for applications includes digital access points and coworking spaces

The SOS group has just launched a call for applications open to the mayors of municipalities with less than 3,500 inhabitants, to identify locations for the creation of multi-service cafés.

The cafés will offer complementary activities and services, adapted to the needs expressed by the inhabitants.

Among the local services envisaged in the call for applications are (in addition to a bread depot, a point of sale of fresh local products, a post office, a tourist information point) a digital access point, but also a shared work space.

What's next: 1,000 cafes for rural villages: call for applications includes digital access points and coworking spaces

Access to public services in rural areas: The Cour des Comptes recommends "the development of an inclusive digital strategy".

Recalling that the digital transformation of the State and local authorities, as well as the platform State strategy, were levers of efficiency for the administration and simplification for users, the Cour des Comptes recommended " the development of an inclusive digital strategy ".

• "The development of an inclusive digital strategy requires the professionalization of digital intermediation but also measures in favor of user training.
• "Digital intermediation raises several problems relating to the training of mediators, the limits of their intervention, their legal responsibility and the protection of users' personal data. It is frequent that the digital mediator substitutes himself for the user and has access to his confidential data (login, password)".
• "The training of caregivers and digital mediators must be organized. It must include the MSAP network and its agents, whose role in terms of support and digital inclusion must be reinforced. In addition, the scope of their intervention (support or substitution) must be defined and secured.
• "In order to promote digital inclusion, training must be offered to users in various locations. The experience of the digital vouchers of the "digital society" mission of the Digital Agency meets this need.
• "In addition to digital access, "a second, physical level of reception must be organized or preserved in order not to penalize the users who are furthest from the digital world, both because of their conditions of access to the network and their ability to use the tools.

RuraConnect: to transform town halls into third places

The digital component of the Rural Agenda

• To eliminate white areas of mobile telephony in five years and deploy 4G on all existing towers by 2020.
• In the context of the next frequency allocations for 5G, impose a minimum quota of 5G sites to be deployed in rural territories.
• To make satellite HSBB solutions attractive by providing a €150 grant per installation and by launching a new generation of satellite in 2021.

• To support 150 third places in rural areas, within the framework of the program " New places, new links". Third places are shared spaces that bring together a range of services such as coworking, fab-lab, ressourcerie...This program will provide financial support to these projects to secure economic models and network project leaders.
• Deploy 1,000 cafés to help economic activity and the presence of places of life in the villages.
• Deploy 33 connected campuses in rural areas, to enable young graduates living in rural areas to pursue their higher education studies at a distance, while benefiting from enhanced support. Consideration will be given to adapting this system to apprentices.

• To create, by the end of the five-year period, at least one France Services center per canton to allow all inhabitants to have a base of public services close to home. At least 300 France Services centers will be deployed by the beginning of 2020, most of them in rural areas. The creation of this new network will be made possible by increased financial support from the State, the reinforcement of training for reception staff and a greater range of services offered in these structures.
• Develop first-level reception in town halls, through close coordination between the network of France Services centers and the network of town halls attached to them, and the training of town hall secretaries.
• Experiment with the " AidantsConnect "in rural areas to protect users and the "helpers" who accompany them in carrying out administrative procedures online.

• Deploy "La Boussole des jeunes" in rural areas. La Boussole des jeunes is a platform that gives young people easier access to the services offered to them at the national level (e.g. the €1 driving license) but also at the local level through the schemes deployed by local authorities for young people (e.g. discount cards for transport, offers of cultural and sports subscriptions, job-seeking schemes...). This system makes it easier for young people to access all the services offered to them in their daily lives by grouping these services in a single, dedicated digital space, services of which they are not always aware.
• Deploy " Pix "the public service for the certification of digital skills, during the SNU and set up the appropriate training at the end
• Deploy 15,000 civic services in rural areas, particularly with the elderly and in local communities.

• Offer a bouquet of turnkey digital applications for local authorities and residents of rural areas. A state-owned start-up called "Territoires Store" will be launched in rural areas to enable elected officials to offer local services via an application: booking places in day care centers, canteen menus, etc.
• Create a collaborative information platform on digital projects in the territories. A State start-up will be launched to identify available solutions and best practices for local authorities, to draw up a directory of assistance, and to provide a resource and documentation center for local elected officials to help them develop their own projects.
• Launch a consultation with public actors to propose training and awareness programs for digital and innovation.

• Deploy at least 200 Micro-Folies in rural areas, out of the 1,000 deployed nationwide. The micro-folies, deployed in voluntary territories, are innovative cultural third places composed of a digital museum and cultural events in voluntary territories.

• Encourage last mile mobility solutions through reciprocity contracts and the development of intermodality.
• Promote mobility platforms in rural areas. In the framework of the "solidarity mobility" competence opened up by the draft law on the orientation of mobility, the mobility organizing authorities (AOM) will be able to organize special services dedicated to people in situations of social or economic vulnerability, to people with reduced mobility or disabilities.

Third places in rural areas, catalysts of local development

Read more : Third places in rural areas, catalysts of local development

Mediation and training: two priorities for the French rural network

In addition to the issues related to very high speed digital coverage, this report highlighted two priorities: training and mediation

• " Many elected officials and local and regional actors have difficulty grasping the political, global and prospective dimension of digital technology, and the socio-economic transformations that it brings about .
• The majority of the inhabitants know how to use these technologies for specific purposes. But this is not the case for 15 to 20% of them who have a real problem in using digital technology or simply do not know how to use it.
• The issue of training also concerns agriculture: the use of digital data also transforms this profession and requires training in the mastery of tools.
• The more digital society becomes, the more it calls for new physical places of mediation and support for citizens. These places can take very different forms: public service centers, digital public spaces, third places, postal contact points. 
• These mediation spaces do not only concern citizens but also elected officials and community agents. It is also proposed to create a shared national service of advice and assistance for them.

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