Derry City and Strabane District Council (DCSDC) is seeking to identify up to eight potential partners from rurally based organisations to participate in a funding bid to establish Smart Rural Digital Hubs within the council district area.

DCSDC's Business Support & Growth Team, acting as a lead partner in collaboration with a range of cross-border partners are proposing to develop the bid for a Smart Village Network Project (SVNP) project under PEACEPLUS Investment Area 2.4 Smart Towns and Villages Development Programme which is due to go live in Autumn 2023.

DCSDC's element of the overall project seeks to support the delivery of Smart Rural Digital Hubs in rural wards in the Sperrin, Derg and Faughan DEA's that will support citizens and businesses to capitalise on the benefits and economic opportunities, including advanced connectivity, digital transformation, and green transition. Further benefits will include job creation as well as new business opportunities in rural settings, increased collaboration, improvements in productivity, innovation and more equitable access to services that help drive inclusive growth and enhance the quality of life. There will also be more opportunities for green growth, efficient use of resources, creating a circular economy and improvements in sustainability and resilience.

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Council will host community engagement events to support interested parties through the upcoming application process to identify potential hub locations and develop proposals that will best suit the needs of the local community.

The range of events will take place in September and October. Community information sessions at locations in each of the DEA's will take place on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 07th September. These in-person sessions will provide an overview of the competitive application process, the eligibility criteria and the timeframes for partner selection. A recording will be available for those who cannot attend in-person sessions.

The pre-application support provided by the council will also incorporate a site visit to showcase the impact of Rural Digital Hubs in other areas. This will be followed by in-person pre-application workshops on the 19th and 20th September and one-to-one clinics in early October. These workshops and clinics are facilitated by independent Smart consultants and will seek to support interested groups in developing their proposal ahead of the application process closing on the 19th October.

Kevin O'Connor, Head of Business at Derry City and Strabane District Council, encouraged any interested organisations to get in touch and reinforced the vast array of benefits that would come with the Smart Rural Digital Hubs.

"The opportunity of creating up to 8 Smart Rural Digital Hubs within the Sperrin, Derg and Faughan DEA's could transform our entire business landscape across the North West and offer huge benefits to the already growing economy.

"We're really looking forward to hosting a range of community engagement events to support the rural business landscape in developing an application so we can put our best foot forward in our attempt to secure funding for such an innovative and exciting project. A project of this scale would not only enable people from rural communities to access current and future broadband infrastructure but it would, in turn, create more business opportunities, enhanced productivity and growth as well as efficiency and resilience."

The overall programme seeks to enable more rural people to access current and future broadband infrastructure, compete for higher value employment and introduce more innovative solutions to service delivery through the creative use of ICT while creating a more competitive, inclusive and balanced economy in rural areas.