Digitalisation in Rural Enterprise Centres: Policy Recommendations for Cloughjordan

Digitalisation in rural enterprise centres enhances local resilience through citizen-led innovations like the Cloughjordan Ecovillage's FabLab and Open Food Network digital farmers' market. This policy brief examines two scenarios: a positive future with strong local supply chains and food security, and a negative trajectory marked by corporate monopolies and policy neglect. Recommendations include Green Deal 2.0, a Department of Just Transition, re-nationalisation of infrastructure, mutual aid mandates, and fully homomorphic encryption for privacy. The study, part of the EU-funded DESIRA project, supports short supply chains and rural economic empowerment in Co Tipperary, Ireland.