Rural Living Lab: What is that and how is it shaped?

Digital transformation (DT) has received increasing attention in recent years. Despite this, most of the current studies focus on digital transformation in more advanced societies, particularly urban areas, and the concept has not been investigated enough within rural contexts. This study aims at exploring how a rural living lab (Rural LL) is shaped and how this approach can be designed to support digital transformation processes in rural context. In so doing, following a design science research methodology (DSRM), we have designed an artefact (i.e., Rural LL framework) which is an “instantiation” that supports user centric digitalization of rural areas. The designed framework is developed based on the key components of “traditional” and “urban” living labs, as well as empirical data which was collected within the context of the DigiBy project. The main constructs (key components) of this framework are: 1) rural context, 2) digitalization, 3) governance, control, and business mode, and 4) quintuple helix actors. We also offer an empirically derived definition of the rural living lab concept, followed by avenues for future research.ISBN för värdpublikation: 9789464442854DigiB