Sustainable Digital Transformation for Rural Business - A Case Study of a Norwegian Startup

Digital transformation and sustainability are important topics, particularly in urban areas, but little is known about how they can be achieved in rural businesses. In order to improve our understanding of digital transformation in a rural context and to promote sustainable value creation, we conducted an in depth exploratory case study at a Business to Business (B2B) software startup that targets rural business customers. We used narrative analysis and i-star framework to capture sustainability goals, resources, challenges, and best practices in rural digital transformation. Through our analysis, we characterized the digital transformation process and found that partnerships with multiple stakeholders and customization to meet specific customer needs were key factors in achieving sustainability objectives through digital transformation in rural small businesses. We also identified several opportunities for promoting sustainability, such as through business process optimization, eco-feedback, status quo challenging, and collective participation. Our study has implications for researchers and practitioners in rural development, ICT, and sustainability, as it provides insights into how digital transformation can be leveraged to achieve sustainability goals in rural small businesses.