Multifunctional Agriculture and ICT: Incompatibility or a Recipe for Territorial Development?

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights as to the usability of ICT in the process of rural development. Through a theoretical framework embracing territorial development, social innovation and pluriactivity, the paper describes how ICT enables the provision of goods and services from the agricultural sector and their use as development assets. Examples showing that ICT may transform agriculture's externalities to territorial tools are provided. Current policies are assessed as to their contribution to territorial development, especially when it comes to funding opportunities for ICT applications towards these objectives. The critical assessment of various ICTs in the framework of environmental protection and rural development provides useful guidelines regarding their applicability to future development patterns.