Strategies for Bridging Digital Inclusion in Rural South Africa

Rural areas in South Africa often face significant barriers to accessing digital technologies and services. A mixed-methods approach including surveys, focus groups, and interviews was employed to gather data from rural residents and stakeholders. The survey revealed that 75% of respondents reported difficulty accessing the internet due to cost and infrastructure issues. Rural communities in South Africa face substantial challenges in bridging the digital inclusion gap. Implementing community-led training programmes and subsidizing internet access costs are recommended strategies. Model estimation used θ̂=argminθ∑ᵢ(yᵢ,f_θ(xᵢ))+λθ₂², with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.