Rural Digital Economy Research Hub (RDEH)
The University of Aberdeen has been awarded £12.4 million of funding over five years to investigate how advances in digital technologies can transform rural communities, society and business. The funding from the Research Councils UK’s (RCUK) Digital Economy Programme, led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is the largest single externally funded grant to be received by the University, and will create 60 new jobs and studentships.
Digital Economy is the novel design or use of information and communication technologies to help transform the lives of individuals, society or business. Research will help understand these technologies and why change is needed, what the impacts will be and who will benefit. In this cross-research council area, research can be driven by economic, social or technical need.
The Rural Digital Economy Research Hub will conduct research and development into digital technologies to enhance how crucial services are delivered in rural areas across the UK. The Hub’s four main research themes are: accessibility and mobilities; healthcare; enterprise and culture, and natural resource conservation.
CTR have a prominent role in the RDEH, with Professor John Nelson taking the lead in the accessibility and mobilities theme. Sustainable transport systems are a key driver of economic, social and environmental well-being but the provision of adequate transport services in rural areas remains problematic. The advent of transport telematics has done much to raise the potential for innovative transport solutions such as more flexible transport services, where transport is organised “on demand”. A key challenge remaining is to embrace more convincingly the opportunities of the digital economy to provide more customer-focused solutions which maximise the available transport resource and are optimised to meet diverse and customised passenger demands. The implications of this would be far-reaching with impacts for quality of life, economic viability and the environment.