Title: Promotion of rural regional development through the WWW

Authors: Zacharoula Andreopoulou, Garyfallos Arabatzis, Basil Manos, Spyros Sofios

Addresses: Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, Laboratory of Forest Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, P.O. Box 247, Thessaloniki, Greece. ' Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 68200 Orestiada, Greece. ' Faculty of Agriculture, Laboratory of Agricultural Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. ' Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, Laboratory of Forest Policy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, P. Box 247, Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract: Development Agencies constitute an innovative institution aiming to support integrated local development in rural areas, hence contributing to the transformation of economy. Shareholders are public and private organisations such as local prefectures, municipalities, scientific societies, unions, cooperatives as well as natural bodies. As internet has facilitated new prospects and opportunities for all to benefit, various websites were also established representing local development agencies. This paper aims to identify and study website content characteristics and to classify them according to their content. Most retrieved websites are information-based websites yet they can further evolve in e-service delivery.

Keywords: regional development; website evaluation; development agencies; rural development; internet; world wide web; local agencies; website content; e-services; web services.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASS.2007.017712

International Journal of Applied Systemic Studies, 2007 Vol.1 No.3, pp.290 - 304

Published online: 27 Mar 2008 *

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