Summary

Recommendation ITU-T Y.4218 aims to contribute to bridging the digital divide by establishing the information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet of Things (IoT) requirements for the deployment of smart services (such as e-government, telehealth, tele-education, precision agriculture, etc.) in rural communities.

There are numerous efforts underway to provide the necessary tools for the transformation into smart cities, but similar efforts are not observed with the transformation into smart rural communities. This is considered a digital divide in most developing countries where the population in those rural areas is mainly dependent on agriculture, forestry, dairy production, fisheries, livestock farming, etc., for its livelihood. They have limited access to good hospitals, schools, banks, etc. in rural areas, that can have an impact on the quality of their life. As a result, there is continued migration from rural to urban areas in search of higher paid jobs, better education, and improved health care. These issues can be alleviated by bridging the digital divide, which may be achieved by enhancing the access of information and communication technology (ICT) services (telephony as well as high speed Internet) in rural communities. As the ICT density, both voice and Internet is lower in rural areas compared to urban areas, therefore a high speed communication network may be established as a backbone for providing reliable ICT services. Provisioning of high speed Internet facilities at the household or local community level will open new opportunities for the rural population in several diverse fields.

The perspective of every household having access to at least one smartphone with a minimum set of required features and the Internet may enable access to various online services, thereby bridging the digital divide.