Barriers for and standpoints of key actors in the implementation of smart village projects as a tool for the development of rural areas

Abstract

This paper focuses on the research of key stakeholders of village development and their standpoints for the implementation of smart projects which are bearers of new trends in village development. Smart projects such as in the field of environment, power engineering, as well as the social sphere are current challenges for the municipalities to avoid any further deepening of the difference in technological and competitive lag behind city regions. The object of the research was to find out how Smart Village ideas and projects are taken up by the local development stakeholders, in which fields the smart solutions are regarded as most desirable for the implementation, and what the barriers which occur in pursuing these projects are. To this end, the project methodology applied the stakeholder analysis through questionnaires submitted to key stakeholders for the development of the village municipalities, which included selected village mayors and experts from the ministries and regional governments, including representatives of local action groups that associate with the municipalities in the village areas. The research concluded that the smart projects pursued are most often associated with the forming of resilient communities and environments. Furthermore, the results pointed out that the mayors are more cautious about the implementation of smart projects than the experts. The mayors consider them more critically, they lack financial resources for their implementation, and they are unsure of their standpoints on smart projects, also due to poor information. The mayors would welcome improved institutional and counselling support from the state and regions facilitating the decision making process in the field of selecting suitable smart solutions and contributing to more intense use of smart solutions in the development of village municipalities.