Contesting the Role of Digitisation and ICT in the Business Model of Agricultural Holdings and Farmers: Micro-Study of the Inner Rural Periphery Region in the Czech Republic

Abstract The challenges of new rural technological possibilities in the 21st century resonate with agriculture. These represent, in particularly the improving availability of ICT infrastructure and the digitisation of socioeconomic processes. This paper focuses on exploring issues related to the potential change in the business behaviour of agricultural holdings and farmers following digitization and the use of ICT. The empirical research was carried out in the territory of the Local Action Group (LAS) Železnohorský region, which is a typical inner rural periphery with a strong agricultural base. The paper presents both the results of an exploratory survey and also develops a specific empirical model according to the improved Cobb-Douglas production function with specifics of the agrarian sector (i.e., including the role of agricultural subsidies and also the application of advanced ICT). The results in the selected rural micro-region showed that the process of digitisation has been very marginal in the models of functioning of the relevant agricultural entities. The current prevailing “techno-optimist approach” in EU strategic planning needs to be overcome by more intensive and comprehensive support for the digitisation process in rural peripheral areas. Particularly, this involves a necessary combination of support for investment in ICT infrastructure and new technologies with more intensive support for digital literacy and knowledge empowerment, which will enable more intensive exploitation of the potential and possibilities of digital technologies and virtual environments.