Connected Forestry - Proposed Method for Impact Assessment of 5G/IoT Enabled Solutions

Currently, telco operators are experiencing decline in revenues and therefore exploring new business opportunities through innovative digital solutions directed towards industry and the public sector. Previous research on digitalization has focused on urban communities and smart cities and less on rural areas, where the digital divide is more frequent. The EU wants to revitalize local communities through enhanced connectivity-based solutions for businesses, farmers, institutions, and families. Eliminating the digital divide in rural communities is vital if we want to fully draw on the effects of digitalization with respect to increased efficiency and reduced climate and environmental impact. The Horizon Europe project COMMECT (Connecting Communities) is such a vehicle for the revitalization of rural industries in five countries in Europe, including Norway which hosts the Connected forestry Living Lab. This article proposes a method for assessing the social and economic impacts of connectivity-based solutions such as fifth generation (5G) mobile networks and the Internet of Things on the most important steps of the forestry value chain. The method proposes assessment of expected impacts early in the development process through trials of protocepts/proofs of concepts/minimum viable products in laboratory environments prior to more extensive field trials in the intended environments. The proposed method is novel and applicable to the assessment of the impacts of digitalization beyond the forestry industry.