Ensuring rural businesses are not left behind

The 4th Industrial Revolution is gathering pace and set to alter many aspects of the way we live and work.  A workshop for delegates from traditional and high tech businesses, along with national and local government representatives, was hosted by Newcastle University’s Centre for Rural Economy (CRE) as part of the Northern Powerhouse Business Summit.  Four provocations highlighted different developing technologies:  a trial of autonomous vehicles by the Lake District National Park and the future of mobility as a service in rural areas; augmented and virtual reality that Northumberland National Park is employing to enrich the visitor experience and reach a new audience; work on the future of food production by the Government Office for Science; and a presentation from CRE on the opportunity for distributed poser stations using rural community buildings.  Delegates then generated their own ideas of how new technology could be integrated with rural development - a fantastic range of possibilities, from a pop-up mobile theatre with augmented and virtual reality facility, to an open platform Internet of Things network which is available to all everywhere as a foundation of future innovation.

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