Rural Futures: Innovation, Resilience, and Sustainable Development

This book comprehensively explores the multifaceted issues shaping rural areas today. It thoroughly examines the socio-economic, environmental, and technological challenges and opportunities that rural communities come across. It broadly covers from social capital and governance models to health, employment, and cultural sustainability. It offers insights into contemporary challenges and innovative solutions and is crucial for those involved in rural development policy, research, and practice. It provides theoretical frameworks as well as practical case studies, highlighting real-world applications from diverse global contexts. The book helps to understand the ongoing transformation in rural economies and communities, especially through digital innovations, sustainable practices, and entrepreneurship. It is particularly valuable for its multidisciplinary approach as it offers unique perspectives on rural resilience, governance, and sustainable growth, all supported by evidence-based research and case studies.

Pushan Kumar Dutta is a distinguished assistant professor in the Electronics and Communication Engineering Department at ASETK, Amity University Kolkata. He earned his PhD (2015) in electronics and telecommunication engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and later pursued a post-doctorate from the Erasmus Mundus Association. He has served as a research coordinator and assistant professor in the Andhra Pradesh Engineering College and has been honored with the Young Faculty in Engineering Award in 2018. He is the ATL Mentor of Change from NITI Aayog Mentor of Change for the Eastern Zone. Dr Dutta’s research interests are diverse, including data mining, big data, AI, edge computing, federated learning, predictive analytics, earthquake precursor study, computer hardware, sustainability, electronic devices, design thinking, industry 5.0, machine ethics, and intelligent systems for biomedicine. He has edited multiple books in the field of healthcare, signal processing, industry 4.0, digital transformation for IET, IGI Global, De Gruyter Brill, CRC, Elsevier, and Springer, with over 40 book chapters. He has also been a reviewer for Springer, Wiley, CRC, Apple Academic Press, and Taylor and Francis. In addition, he has published more than 108 articles in Scopus-indexed journals, book chapters, and conferences in total. By 2022, Dr Dutta had completed 50 book editorials, demonstrating his prolific contribution to academic literature in different areas. His expertise is recognized through his membership in the technical programming committees of various significant conferences, where he delivers keynote speeches. He also holds an Indian copyright titled ＂Innovative Digital Teaching and Learning for Professional Readiness,＂ and two Indian patents. As part of his mentoring role, Dr Dutta regularly coordinates sports and innovation competitions at Amity University Kolkata and teaches subjects such as IoT, robotics, basics of electronic devices, and neural networks.

Sonal Trivedi is an assistant professor at VIT Business School, VIT Bhopal University, Madhya Pradesh, India. She earned her PhD (2017) in management (finance), titled ’A study on risk management tools and techniques in life insurance industry in India, ’ from the University of Kota, Rajasthan. She has more than 12 years of teaching experience, including being a teaching assistant in S. V. National Institute of Technology (NIT), Surat, an institute of national importance under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. She has published three books in national publications and edited two Scopus-indexed books. She has written 27 chapter reviews as well as 5 research papers in Scopus-indexed journals, published 22 research papers in UGC-approved journals, and presented 15 papers in international and national conferences. She has also chaired five international conferences, is a reviewer for four reputed journals, and holds seven patents. Her areas of interest are blockchain technology, finance, banking, and insurance.