County of Västernorrland Sweden

Mikael Näsström

Facts• 7 municipalities• Population 244 000• Inhabitants/km2 = 11,2• 2 Provinces• 74% of the area is Forests

Broadbandcoverage in municipalities71-95% (100%)

Why not 100% coverage?

Still blind spots in coverage. Low or negative ROI for investments in some rural

areas – despite investment support Lack of demand in some areas. Technical limitations in some areas –

limited number of access points.

ICT-maturity by individuals

• 70% has access to Internet at home, 29% for those over 65 years.

• 35% has > 2 Mbps• 50% use it more than

6 hours a week• 29% have visited a

municipality website

ICT-maturity in business

• Access to Internet 95%

• 70% of those with access has > 2 Mbps

• Selling over Internet 42%

• 65% purchase products over Internet

• 69% have made online payments

• Only 24% with CRM-databases

Now it´s time to• Make use of the ICT-infrastructure for

regional growth in rural areas and take advantage of the opportunities ICT offers.

• Develop the co-operation over organizational boundaries. • Find out models for how to transform

the organisations by using modern ICT-tools.

• Create attractive regions where services meets the demands from companies and citizens.

An attractive rural lifestyle

with good ICT-access and modern

transport infrastructure.