Rural firms held back by lack of digital skills 

Cow 
Half of rural firms said they struggled to access the digital skills they need to grow 

Rural businesses have long complained they are held back by Britain’s patchy broadband infrastructure, but new research suggests they’re also struggling to find the right skills to make the most of new technology such as cloud computing and the Internet of Things.

Around 80pc of rural firms said they see online tools as key to their future growth prospects, but more than half complained of a lack of digitally-savvy staff and training opportunities, according to research by the Rural England think tank and Scotland’s Rural College, commissioned by Amazon.

Rural England chair Brian Wilson said: “Whilst connectivity remains a concern, it is clear that more needs to be done beyond this in terms of more proactive support and skills development.”

One fifth of the 800 companies asked said they struggled to find the right staff and that their existing workforce didn’t have the necessary digital skills, while 14pc said they couldn’t find appropriate training and 30pc had difficulty tracking down external contractors.

The boss of IceRobotics, a company that produces digital sensors that monitor the health of farmers' cows, said technologies such as cloud computing were key to improving innovation in agriculture.

Douglas Armstrong said: “The faster we get rural businesses adopting new technology, the more globally competitive rural Britain will be.”    

Almost two thirds of firms said cloud computing was key to their future growth, followed by 5G mobile networks on 54pc, the Internet of Things on 47pc and machine learning and artificial intelligence on 26pc.

Mr Wilson said: “What is striking in this research is the ambition and willingness of rural businesses to embrace new technology and that could increase the global competitiveness of our rural economy”

In March, a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce found that 30pc of firms in rural areas had unreliable broadband, more than twice as high as those in towns and cities.

A proposed £600m deal between the Government and BT’s network arm Openreach to improve 1.4m rural broadband lines is thought to be threatened by concerns it could be seen as illegal state aid. 

Doug Gurr, Amazon’s UK country manager, said: “The research finds that rural businesses are typically family-run, home-based, owned by people aged over 55 years old and employing fewer than ten people – exactly the type of businesses that can gain from using digital technology to expand their productivity.”

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