The impact of new technologies on competitiveness and productivity of rural SMEs: A Cross-Country exploration survey

The adoption of technologies by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that operating in several business sectors in rural areas is crucial issue because they often need financial and technical incentives and support from public and local authorities. The question whether and how innovation can be replicated and applied in a wider context is strictly connected to the understanding of those factors and mechanisms capable to determine success or failure of the introduction of innovation itself. Our aims will be to present the impact of 12 new technologies suitable for rural economy SMEs, to identify the enablers and barriers for adopting each technology, to support rural economy, and to provide policy recommendations useful for the public authorities on how to establish favourable conditions and offer incentives to SMEs for integrating innovative solutions. We want to respond the following questions. What type of technology is adopted by rural SMEs? What aims are most crucial for them? What are the enablers and barriers for adopting each technology to support rural economy? How to establish favourable conditions and offer incentives to SMEs for integrating innovative solutions? At the end, we want to examine the effects of the socioeconomic characteristics of rural SME respondents.