The dimensions of digital sustainable development in Smart Villages: a case study analysis

Sustainability and innovation are two core principles of modern society. The digital sustainable development has found a predominant role in smart cities, yet smaller municipalities also benefit from a sustainable digital transformation. According to the Cork 2.0 Declaration (2016) local communities that use digital technologies and innovations to improve the quality of life go under the name of “smart villages”. However, among the heterogenous definitions of “smart village”, the use of digital technology does not always represent an essential prerequisite. The following research aims at identifying the dimensions of digital sustainable development in smart villages contributing to a new conceptual framework through a secondary data multiple-case study. The study aims at offering a theoretical contribution to further understand the core and universal characteristics of the smart village concept. Furthermore, the findings aim at being applied as managerial guidelines when developing a smart village project.