INTERNET giant Amazon has enlisted Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and Rural England to launch a consultation of local businesses to maximise the potential of the internet and technology, boost the digital economy nationwide and level the urban-rural dive.

The work by the two bodies will help inform new research on how to grow rural Britain’s digital economy. Responses to the consultation will be analysed alongside official statistical data, interviews with key stakeholder groups, and economic analysis.

Their report aims to understand how to grow the digital economy in rural areas through e-commerce, exports and productivity gains; what is the level of digital skills in rural areas and how they can be improved; what digital business tools and services best support rural businesses; and what enables businesses to successfully relocate from urban areas.

It will also seek to find out how the business sectors emerging in rural areas are likely to gain most from digital technology and which rural locations are the best to set up a digitally empowered business.

The hope is that potential policy ideas will also emerge which could help drive the growth of the digital economy in rural Britain, bringing together the public and private sector to bring the rural economy into the digital age.

A third of Scotland’s registered small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with up to 249 employees – a total of around 51,000 businesses – are based in rural areas.

They operate across a range of sectors including land-based activities, business and consumer services, manufacturing and construction.

“We know that there are major digital infrastructure challenges in many parts of rural Scotland,” said Jane Atterton, from the Rural Policy Centre at SRUC.

“This research is focusing on how we can grow the potential of Britain’s digital economy by looking at where digital infrastructure is being used effectively by businesses and where and how we can increase its use.

“We would like to hear from businesses across rural Scotland – this is an issue which is critical to the long-term prosperity of our rural areas.”

Research released this week has found significant potential for the rural economy going digital.

The SME Growth Tracker – a quarterly report by Capital Economics commissioned by Amazon UK and Enterprise Nation which assesses growth prospects and views of more than 1000 SMEs – found that those in rural parts expected e-commerce revenue to increase by 1.9 per cent over the next 12 months, after rising by 0.6 per cent over the past year.

This anticipated growth was stronger than SMEs overall, who expected to grow their annual revenues by 1.7 per cent in the next 12 months – up from 0.8 per cent in the past year.

The report also found that all UK SMEs were downbeat about conditions for their business in the coming months, but the SME Confidence Index score was stronger for rural SMEs (at -7) when compared to urban SMEs (-12) and those in inner city areas (-15).

Doug Gurr, Amazon’s UK country manager, added: “We believe that the digital revolution can create significant growth and job opportunities for the rural economy and bridge the urban-rural divide. As long as you have a laptop, internet connection and a great product, you can now be local and sell global.

“We’ve seen thousands of rural businesses do just that through Amazon Marketplace. We welcome and encourage rural businesses of all shapes and sizes from across rural Britain to participate in this important research project.”

The consultation will include interviews with influential rural organisations, as well as discussions with rural politicians on policy solutions that can deliver a digital rural Britain. Rural businesses can submit their views until the beginning of September deadline, with a view of the report being published by the end of this year.

The survey can be found here.