Analysing Broadband Access for Rural Development (A-BARD) is a 24 month
Coordination Action started in January 2005 to research rural broadband
provision and use, as part of the Scientific Support to Policies ( SSP ) in the
EU Sixth Framework Programme.
A-BARD aims to continuously identify views on the issues and
barriers to widespread broadband provision and the extent to which broadband
can act as an external driver of change in rural economies.
Targeted to the needs of rural communities A-BARD addresses
questions close to eRural actors such as:
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Rural broadband deployment in rural Europe: issues, models, best practices,
affordability and acessibility?
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Broadband Applications and Services: what is emerging and can some of those
applications and services directly address the digital divide?
Broadband is a very dynamic area, with technology, applications
and services moving very fast, information is of the essence to make the right
decisions and while there is a vast amount of information concerning broadband
not a lot of it is of particular relevance to broadband for rural areas.
A-BARD will provide a rolling continuous monitoring, reporting
and analysing current trends and recent developments with regard to broadband
provision, access and use in the rural areas across Europe, that can be used by
all interested actors.
