An Investigation of Solutions to Empowering Iranian Rural People to Use Services Offered by Information and Communication Technology Service Offices: The Case of Isfahan Province

Abstract

Problem statement: Knowledge and information should be provided for people effectively as they can use it in their life. Empowering rural people to use formation and knowledge is necessary and important than its Transfer. In order to develop information and communication services in rural area, services offices have been established, but the villagers do not ability to use services. This research identified the empowerment solutions for rural people in order to use services offered by ICT Services offices. Currently have access to 67% Iranian rural populations assess ICT Service Offices, therefore, empowering people can promote efficiency and effectiveness of ICT Service offices and accelerate rural development. Approach: A descriptive methodology was applied in this study, through questionnaires. In this study, 210 local authorities in five counties (Fereydan, Fereydonshahr, Semirom, Natanz and Golpaygan) of Isfahan province were selected through random sampling. The statistical analysis after data extraction was carried out by SPSS version13.0. Factor analysis was used for data analysis. Results: The findings revealed that four factors containing 33 variables explained 70.9% of variance. These factors were named: awareness (27.86% variance), Facilitation (16.39% variance), an institutional (13.55% variance) and context building (12.18% variance) to the representation. Conclusion: The findings regarding the strategies used in order to empower villagers desirable services shows that in short-term order should take action to capitalize on fundamental measures, facilitative and increase access to education and services and will encourage local orientation. Among the long-term should also focus on Facilitation-Increasing access to education and to encourage the local orientation, and using basic measures were. In order to empower the villagers regard to awareness factors-communication, facilitative-motivational, institutional-Migration and property should be of great concern, that the awareness factor that emphasis on cognitive and communication will be more important.