Rural Policy: ‘Here’s What We Need,’ Advocates Say

The Daily Yonder, working with the Rural Assembly, identified a dozen rural-policy advocates with firsthand knowledge about the impact of federal policy in rural communities. They asked these in-the-trenches experts to name the top policies they would like to see 2020 presidential candidates address and eventually enact. Roberto Gallardo, Assistant Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development at Purdue University, wrote on Technology and Broadband:

Talent exists everywhere; the ecosystem under which it thrives does not. As the digital age continues to unfold, rural communities are at risk of being left behind. The following areas need to be addressed to ensure rural communities can participate fully in the digital age:

• Ensure mechanisms where adequate and affordable broadband is a reality in rural areas. This may include better aligning existing resources and incentives to smaller providers that are vested in these rural communities and/or explore open access models in areas where dedicated infrastructure is too expensive to build.
• Provide resources and technical assistance to rural communities to improve their ability and capacity to pursue funding mechanisms to upgrade their broadband infrastructure.
• Design, fund, and implement a national strategy delegated to states that addresses digital inclusion, including devices, adequate and affordable connectivity, and digital skills/literacy.
• Increase awareness efforts throughout rural communities on the implications of the digital age and how they can plan for, transition to, and prosper in the digital age.
• Assist rural communities in shifting their economic development strategies from industry attraction to place making and economic gardening, strategies that focus inward rather than outward.