Understanding digital futures: Towards a framework for digital, community & youth engagement and research

In this paper we offer an analytical framework exploring the extent to which rural communities are positioned to engage with digital technologies and some key factors influencing the process. Described as a ‘Digital Rural Research Framework’, it builds on the digital stages of readiness, capacity, use, and impact, and incorporates the community capitals literature to examine how different capitals can influence digital technology adoption. The paper outlines how the ‘Digital Rural Research Framework’ was applied to researching the experiences of young people in rural communities in Manitoba, Canada, using focus groups with rural youth and key informant interviews with rural leaders and partners involved in digital technology and programming across Canada. The authors apply the framework to explore both the barriers and opportunities of built, human, economic, social, cultural, and political capital related to digital technologies in rural communities. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of tailoring digital initiatives to address specific barriers and challenges in each rural area, and how the Digital Rural Research Framework can provide insights for place-based digital research and inform policy and practice. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of the intersections between digital technologies and community capitals in rural contexts.