Imagine you want to bring smart technology to farming and rural communities, but you have no idea which villages are ready for it and which ones would struggle. DESIRA set up Living Labs in 20 European regions to figure out exactly that — what digital tools actually work in rural areas, what problems they cause, and where the real opportunities are. They built online tools to visualize which technologies are game changers and measured their social and economic impact. Think of it as a GPS for rural digitization: it tells you where you are, where you should go, and what roadblocks to expect.
Rural areas across Europe are digitizing unevenly — some farms adopt precision agriculture while neighboring regions lack basic connectivity. Companies selling digital solutions to agriculture waste resources targeting regions that aren't ready, while missing opportunities in regions that are. There has been no reliable, evidence-based map showing where rural digitization is working, where it's failing, and what specific barriers exist in each region.
DESIRA built an online Visualization Tool mapping digital game changers in agriculture and forestry, a Socio-Economic Impact Tool with indicators tied to UN Sustainability Goals, a Virtual Farm Platform as proof of concept, and a Policy Roadmap — all validated through Living Labs in 20 European regions with 250 participants.
If you are an AgriTech company trying to sell digital solutions to rural farmers — this project mapped digitization readiness across 20 European regions and identified which technologies qualify as game changers. Their Visualization Tool and Taxonomy of Digital Game Changers can help you target regions where adoption is most likely and avoid markets that aren't ready yet.
If you are a rural development agency struggling to prioritize which digital investments will actually stick in your region — DESIRA built a Socio-Economic Impact Tool with indicators aligned to UN Sustainability Goals. They tested scenarios in 20 Living Labs with 250 participants from across Europe, giving you real evidence for which digitization paths deliver measurable returns.
If you are a farm management platform provider looking to expand into underserved rural markets — DESIRA developed a Virtual Farm Platform as a proof of concept and ran 5 detailed Use Cases on the most promising digital solutions identified by their Living Labs. Their Pan-European Assessment shows you exactly where digital farming infrastructure gaps exist across 16 countries.
DESIRA was a publicly funded Research and Innovation Action, so its assessment tools, taxonomies, and reports are expected to be publicly available. The Visualization Tool and Socio-Economic Impact Tool are online platforms. Contact the coordinator at Università di Pisa for access terms.
The tools were designed for and tested across 20 European regions spanning 16 countries, with input from 250 participants in their Rural Digitization Forum. This Pan-European scope suggests the assessment methodology scales well across diverse rural contexts.
As a publicly funded EU project (RIA scheme), results are typically available under open or favorable licensing terms. The 25-partner consortium includes 8 universities and 9 research organizations, which generally favor open dissemination. Specific licensing for the Virtual Farm Platform and Visualization Tool should be confirmed with the coordinator.
The project ran from 2019 to 2023, covering a critical period that includes pre- and post-COVID rural digitization shifts. The baseline data and indicators remain relevant for understanding structural readiness gaps, though specific regional conditions may have evolved since.
DESIRA built a Virtual Research Environment connecting all participants and online tools for visualization and impact assessment. Based on available project data, integration capabilities with third-party systems would need to be confirmed directly with the development team.
The project developed an Ethical Code recommended for adoption by policy bodies, plus a Policy Roadmap for rural digitization. Their indicators are aligned to UN Sustainable Development Goals, which increasingly influence EU agricultural policy and funding criteria.
The DESIRA consortium of 25 partners across 16 countries is heavily research-oriented, with 8 universities and 9 research organizations making up the majority. Only 3 industry partners (12% ratio) and 4 SMEs participated, which signals this is primarily an assessment and policy project rather than a technology commercialization effort. The broad geographic spread across 16 countries — from Finland to Greece, Ireland to Latvia — gives the findings strong Pan-European credibility. The coordinator, Università di Pisa in Italy, is an academic institution, which means commercial follow-up will likely require connecting their insights with technology companies that can act on the identified opportunities.
Università di Pisa, Italy — search for DESIRA project coordinator on the university website or ResearchGate
Want to know which of the 20 mapped regions match your agritech product? SciTransfer can connect you with the right Living Lab contacts and help you target the regions with highest digital readiness.
