Digital technologies and rural community resilience: lessons from the COVID-19 crisis in Indonesia

Although digital adaptation was a universal mechanism in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was a challenge for rural communities. This article identifies the role of digital technology in stimulating rural community resilience to pandemic consequences in Indonesia, a country in the Global South. Two villages, characterised by differing levels of digital capabilities and socio-institutional contexts, were researched utilising qualitative methodologies. Findings show digital technology provided new knowledge and skills, but also presented challenges and difficulties that necessitated collective efforts. In the context of the rural Global South, where digital developments are limited, collective action at the community level remains necessary to make digital technology useful. Existing sociocultural norms, values, and institutional arrangements, as well as leadership, facilitated adaptation, but requires transformation for further adaptive capacity development.