The “Ineco RuralTIC” program is launched, an innovative solution to contribute to rural digitization and the promotion of teleworking

Ineco, the public engineering department of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma), has launched this program as a tool at the service of citizens residing in towns and small municipalities in Spain.

It is a collaborative model that aims to contribute to the social and economic digitization of the society that lives in rural environments, breaking down the barriers that distance them from new technologies.

Being able to guarantee communication with relatives in isolated areas, or carry out administrative procedures (banking, health, transport, etc.) through the mobile device, becomes one of the main variables when deciding to maintain the habitual residence in the environment. rural.

The actions focused on socially and economically digitizing small municipalities and towns constitute a fundamental lever in the population settlement policies in this environment, generating a gateway for the return of the inhabitants of the large centers towards a more sustainable model of life.

Social and economic digitization

Thanks to Ineco's knowledge in the field of digitization, where its number of professionals has multiplied by fourteen over the last decade, and is currently made up of more than 700 highly knowledgeable profiles in the application of new technologies and artificial intelligence , the designed program plans to advance along two lines of action.

The first, social digitization, with training and support in the use of new technologies for the inhabitants of rural areas, with a special focus on the elderly population.

And the second, economic digitization, providing support and advice to the rural business fabric, through the enhancement of their digital positioning, creating or improving the web services they have, implementing their presence on social networks and designing specific apps that optimize the activity .

Those in charge of collaborating in the program are professional volunteers from the company, who will be able to temporarily telework from the rural municipalities in which the program is carried out, enjoying the many advantages that living in this environment brings, having at their fingertips the possibility to approach a unique natural and cultural heritage, as well as an exclusive tourist offer. This formula will help make visible and digitalize 50 municipalities in the country as a whole, boosting their local economy.

In addition, another of the objectives pursued by the program is the exchange of experience and joint work to lay the foundations for a sustainable management model that improves the quality of life of citizens. This fact will translate into a reduction in public spending, allowing the improvement of the quality of services and managing to attract economic activity and, in this way, generate progress.

“Ineco RuralTIC” is aimed at municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants that meet certain starting requirements (4G, assumption of costs of stay for Ineco volunteers and spaces for holding workshops), being evaluated during the process of selection of other complementary parameters (educational and health services, existence of young entrepreneurial SMEs, tourist offer, cultural and natural heritage, number of smaller local entities that groups the municipality, etc.).

Ineco will present this initiative at the conference on “Innovation against depopulation” that COTEC organizes on June 10 and 11 in Otero de Herreros.

Aligned with the strategy of the Government of Spain

In addition to contributing to the achievement of the SDG 17 Alliances; 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities; and 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Rural ICT is based on two of the pillars that make up the strategy of the Government of Spain, to combat depopulation in rural areas: the master line of coordination and cooperation of all public administrations led by the Ministry of Territorial Policy; and Plan 130 of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, aligned with the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and its four priority axes, to guarantee the incorporation of small municipalities in a green, digital recovery, with a gender perspective , and inclusive.