SAC Research

The second phase of the research examined gaps in the scientific knowledge base that had been identified in our literature review.  This extensive period of primary research involved surveying the SMEs, rural advisers and key (institutional) providers of information and advice to get full picture of the information dissemination network and interactions therein.  The issues to be addressed by the survey were designed by the whole partnership (at a team meeting) to ensure there was a core set of common questions which would allow transnational (and inter-regional) comparisons to be made.  In Iceland because of financial restrictions and a rapid identification of the key issues and potential ICT solutions for their target group the full survey was not conducted.  At an early stage the Icelandic partnership had a clear understanding of the issues facing the farm based tourism businesses with some very clear ideas about the potential solutions. 

During 2004 and 2005 the SME surveys were carried out in Scotland and Finland by using a mail questionnaire. The questionnaire was mailed out to approximately 1,000 rural SMEs in Objective 1 area in Finland (with large focus on Central Finland and Northern Ostrobothnia regions) and 1,600 farmers in Scotland (with a large focus on the Highlands and Islands) who were given an option of replying over the internet.  In addition to this survey, a similar survey was conducted on rural business advisors. The advisor survey was e-mailed to about 300 advisors in Finland whilst about 215 Scottish agri-business advisors were mailed the survey with the option of replying using a web-based survey.  In addition to these surveys an information provider survey was conducted to complete our understanding of the information delivery chain. In Finland an electronic questionnaire was utilised whereas in Scotland semi-structured interviews were conducted.  This survey allowed us to examine how organisations provide information/advice, their policies regarding delivery media and how they engage with stakeholders to ensure they are delivering appropriate material (for example most organisations have considerable web exposure and only recently have taken cognisance of connectivity problems faced by low-bandwidth, particularly in rural areas).

SME interviews and focus groups were used to corroborate the research findings and give as comprehensive an understanding of the use and acquisition of information by SMEs and advisers as possible.  This particularly enabled us to gain a better understanding about entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards to the use of ICT and Internet based services, as that appeared to have a significant role in whether they utilised ICT services or not.  Specifically we aimed to find out more-in-depth details about their needs for external information and their possible ideas for new services that could be further developed in design phase of RuBIES-project.

Some of the key findings from the research focusing on communication pathways used by SMEs from the Scottish survey of farmers in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and the Finnish survey of nature–based entrepreneurs (NBEs) in Central Finland and Northern Ostrobothnia regions are highlighted here.