Exploring the Level and Influencing Factors of Digital Village Development in China: Insights and Recommendations
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article analyzes the development of China's digital countryside construction and proposes a set of evaluation indicators for it. The study uses various methods to quantify the level of digital rural construction and identifies factors that affect its development. The study also highlights the growth and slight slowdown of digital village construction and the shift in the core density curve towards multipolar development. The findings can help formulate suitable digital rural development strategies in various regions. But, it would be beneficial to include a comparison of China's digital countryside development with that of other countries. This would provide a broader perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing rural areas in different parts of the world, and could help identify best practices and potential areas for collaboration. For example, countries like South Korea and Japan have made significant strides in developing their rural digital infrastructure, and could provide useful case studies for China to learn from. Additionally, a comparison of China's rural digital development with that of other emerging economies, such as India and Brazil, could help highlight common challenges and areas for shared learning and cooperation. By expanding the analysis beyond China's borders, the study could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the global digital countryside landscape and the opportunities for cross-border collaboration in this area.
The article analyzes the development of China's digital countryside construction and proposes a set of evaluation indicators for it. The study uses various methods to quantify the level of digital rural construction and identifies factors that affect its development. The study also highlights the growth and slight slowdown of digital village construction and the shift in the core density curve towards multipolar development. The findings can help formulate suitable digital rural development strategies in various regions. But, it would be beneficial to include a comparison of China's digital countryside development with that of other countries. This would provide a broader perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing rural areas in different parts of the world, and could help identify best practices and potential areas for collaboration. For example, countries like South Korea and Japan have made significant strides in developing their rural digital infrastructure, and could provide useful case studies for China to learn from. Additionally, a comparison of China's rural digital development with that of other emerging economies, such as India and Brazil, could help highlight common challenges and areas for shared learning and cooperation. By expanding the analysis beyond China's borders, the study could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the global digital countryside landscape and the opportunities for cross-border collaboration in this area.
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
I’m very appreciative of your valuable suggestion for the article, the following is our reply to your suggestion:
Point1:“It would be beneficial to include a comparison of China's digital countryside development with that of other countries. For example, countries like South Korea and Japan have made significant strides in developing their rural digital infrastructure, and could provide useful case studies for China to learn from. Additionally, a comparison of China's rural digital development with that of other emerging economies, such as India and Brazil, could help highlight common challenges and areas for shared learning and cooperation.”
Respond1:
Through further research, we found that South Korea, Japan, Brazil and India have achieved obvious results in the construction of digital villages, and these experiences are worth learning from in China..
First, we looked for experiences from South Korea's digital countryside:
In 2001, South Korea launched the "Information Village" program to build an ultra-high-speed Internet environment and e-commerce infrastructure for rural areas with backward information technology. The village information committee is responsible for the government's professional information guidance personnel, the operation and maintenance of rural information organisations, and the supervision and improvement of villagers' information literacy.( line 130 of the text)
In addition, we found that South Korea's experience in using digital twins technology in land management is also worth learning from China in the construction of digital villages. The study found that digital twins and land have shared characteristics, encompassing physical land, virtual land, and land-related data. In terms of processing for digitalization in the virtual space, sufficient budget and human resource management have been identified as important elements. As for analysis and simulation conducted in the virtual space, trust in the model of analysis and simulation needs to be developed through verification and job rotation in the civil service. ( line 1629 of the text)
Second, the construction of digital villages in Japan has provided China with positive inspiration in terms of organizational forms, technology promotion and digital education for villagers. We found that through e-commerce legislation, Japan has established an electronic trading platform for agricultural products and a professional online store for agricultural products, which has realized the specialization and large-scale management of agricultural products. In addition, Japan has integrated private-sector digital technologies into rural public services, addressing the declining utilization, income, and attractiveness of rural public transportation. (line136-139;line262-268)
Japan Agricultural Association is a not-for-profit national agricultural organization, which provides a lot of guidance for the development of agricultural industrialization for Japanese farmers. With its strong organizational capacity, Japan Agricultural Association promotes digitalization, which greatly promotes the rapid and large-scale promotion of agricultural digitalization in rural Japan. This provides a reference for the improvement of digital literacy of rural residents in China. (line1144-1147)
Third, We found that during the period of the epidemic, Brazil promoted the rapid development of online shopping, electronic payment, distance education, and digitalization of agriculture through projects such as "WI-FI Brazil", "Connectivity in the North and Northeast", and "Smart City", which promoted the digitalization of the economy and people's livelihood. This also provides inspiration for the construction of China's digital countryside.(line142-151)
Similarly noteworthy is the experience of India, which has been working to provide digital literacy education to its residents through specific organizations, the Indian government's PMGDISHA program to provide digital literacy education to 60 million citizens in rural areas, and digital literacy training for students from minority communities. In addition, the study found that the spread of mobile phones has made it easier for people with mobile phones to access health care, but has exacerbated the situation of people without mobile phones in poor areas. This also provides inspiration for China in terms of digital poverty reduction.(line139-141;line358,1643)
What needs illustration is that, in the second paragraph of Introduction, the experiences of Japan, South Korea, India,and Brazil in digital infrastructure construction, legislation, digital literacy, and e-commerce are introduced to provide mutual learning for the construction of digital villages in different countries. In the third paragraph of the Introduction, the experience of various countries is analyzed and evaluated, the Managerial Implication of the Conclusion draws on the experience of other countries.
In addition, Part 2.3 of the literature review introduces three methods for the construction of digital economy index, which come from different countries and international organizations (EU, US and OECD). Through these comparisons, it lays the groundwork for this study to build an index system that conforms to the actual construction of China's digital countryside.
Reviewer 2 Report
The article entitled “Measuring and Assessing the Influence Factors of the Digital Rural Construction Level in China” is interesting and publishable in the Sustainability after a major Revision. I have some concerns and suggestions for the authors to improve the manuscript further:
Make sure to distinguish the Introduction from the Literature Review. The literature review is well-developed, mentioning exceptional content related to the topic. However, it has certain weaknesses that must be addressed. There is a lack of critical synthesis of the studies reviewed in the literature review, i.e., the literature review appears to be descriptive rather than a critical analysis of the examined studies.
The methodology section is well-underdeveloped. The descriptions of the research philosophy and design need to be sufficiently developed. Research philosophy is a set of beliefs about collecting, analyzing, and using evidence concerning a phenomenon. Numerous research methods and philosophical frameworks are included under epistemology, which refers to what is known to be accurate, as opposed to doxology, which refers to what is thought to be true.
Research design is the blueprint for data collection, measurement, and analysis. The research design is the approach adopted to combine the numerous components of the study consistently and logically, thereby ensuring that they will successfully solve the research topic.
Although the Results section provides a detailed description of the responses collected, there needs to be a more critical synthesis and comparison of the primary findings in the analysis of the results.
Summarize your thoughts and convey the larger significance of your research. Identify and discuss how a gap in the literature has been addressed and demonstrate the importance of your ideas. Introduce possible new or expanded ways of thinking about the research problem. Also, state the ideas for future research in the conclusion. Make sure you create 3 subsections in the Conclusion: 1) Theoretical implications, 2) Managerial Implications, and 3) Ideas for Future Research.
Moderate editing of English language
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
I’m very appreciative of your valuable suggestion for the article, the following is our reply to your suggestion:
Point1:“It would be beneficial to include a comparison of China's digital countryside development with that of other countries. For example, countries like South Korea and Japan have made significant strides in developing their rural digital infrastructure, and could provide useful case studies for China to learn from. Additionally, a comparison of China's rural digital development with that of other emerging economies, such as India and Brazil, could help highlight common challenges and areas for shared learning and cooperation.”
Respond1:
Through further research, we found that South Korea, Japan, Brazil and India have achieved obvious results in the construction of digital villages, and these experiences are worth learning from in China..
First, we looked for experiences from South Korea's digital countryside:
In 2001, South Korea launched the "Information Village" program to build an ultra-high-speed Internet environment and e-commerce infrastructure for rural areas with backward information technology. The village information committee is responsible for the government's professional information guidance personnel, the operation and maintenance of rural information organisations, and the supervision and improvement of villagers' information literacy.( line 130 of the text)
In addition, we found that South Korea's experience in using digital twins technology in land management is also worth learning from China in the construction of digital villages. The study found that digital twins and land have shared characteristics, encompassing physical land, virtual land, and land-related data. In terms of processing for digitalization in the virtual space, sufficient budget and human resource management have been identified as important elements. As for analysis and simulation conducted in the virtual space, trust in the model of analysis and simulation needs to be developed through verification and job rotation in the civil service. ( line 1629 of the text)
Second, the construction of digital villages in Japan has provided China with positive inspiration in terms of organizational forms, technology promotion and digital education for villagers. We found that through e-commerce legislation, Japan has established an electronic trading platform for agricultural products and a professional online store for agricultural products, which has realized the specialization and large-scale management of agricultural products. In addition, Japan has integrated private-sector digital technologies into rural public services, addressing the declining utilization, income, and attractiveness of rural public transportation. (line136-139;line262-268)
Japan Agricultural Association is a not-for-profit national agricultural organization, which provides a lot of guidance for the development of agricultural industrialization for Japanese farmers. With its strong organizational capacity, Japan Agricultural Association promotes digitalization, which greatly promotes the rapid and large-scale promotion of agricultural digitalization in rural Japan. This provides a reference for the improvement of digital literacy of rural residents in China. (line1144-1147)
Third, We found that during the period of the epidemic, Brazil promoted the rapid development of online shopping, electronic payment, distance education, and digitalization of agriculture through projects such as "WI-FI Brazil", "Connectivity in the North and Northeast", and "Smart City", which promoted the digitalization of the economy and people's livelihood. This also provides inspiration for the construction of China's digital countryside.(line142-151)
Similarly noteworthy is the experience of India, which has been working to provide digital literacy education to its residents through specific organizations, the Indian government's PMGDISHA program to provide digital literacy education to 60 million citizens in rural areas, and digital literacy training for students from minority communities. In addition, the study found that the spread of mobile phones has made it easier for people with mobile phones to access health care, but has exacerbated the situation of people without mobile phones in poor areas. This also provides inspiration for China in terms of digital poverty reduction.(line139-141;line358,1643)
What needs illustration is that, in the second paragraph of Introduction, the experiences of Japan, South Korea, India,and Brazil in digital infrastructure construction, legislation, digital literacy, and e-commerce are introduced to provide mutual learning for the construction of digital villages in different countries. In the third paragraph of the Introduction, the experience of various countries is analyzed and evaluated, the Managerial Implication of the Conclusion draws on the experience of other countries.
In addition, Part 2.3 of the literature review introduces three methods for the construction of digital economy index, which come from different countries and international organizations (EU, US and OECD). Through these comparisons, it lays the groundwork for this study to build an index system that conforms to the actual construction of China's digital countryside.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The article is well written but cannot be accepted in the current form. The authors should consider the following comments to further improve the paper:
1. The major issue with the current paper is related to grammar and technical errors. Right from the topic which should read "Measuring the Influence of Digital Rural Construction Level in China" or "Assessing the Influencing factors of Digital Rural Construction Level in China", influence and factors cannot be used together while measure and assess connote almost the same thing at this point
2. Another major issue is the arrangement and structure of the paper. For instance, discussion of findings should come after results and not after conclusion.
3. What is the difference between section 5 and 6?
4. The discussion of findings require a major rework, what is currently available in section 7 is not different from results or findings. Authors are encouraged to check with high quality papers on the content of a typical discussion. Aside from reference to previous publications to collaborate or otherwise the findings, there should be practical, methodological and theoretical implications of the study.
5. The justification for the adoption of the method of analysis is missing. Several methods can be adopted for the study, so there is a need to explain these methods and rationale for the choice of the adopted one
This require improvement. A professional proofreader is needed to improve the paper
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
I’m very appreciative of your valuable suggestion for the article, the following is our reply to your suggestion:
Point1:“It would be beneficial to include a comparison of China's digital countryside development with that of other countries. For example, countries like South Korea and Japan have made significant strides in developing their rural digital infrastructure, and could provide useful case studies for China to learn from. Additionally, a comparison of China's rural digital development with that of other emerging economies, such as India and Brazil, could help highlight common challenges and areas for shared learning and cooperation.”
Respond1:
Through further research, we found that South Korea, Japan, Brazil and India have achieved obvious results in the construction of digital villages, and these experiences are worth learning from in China..
First, we looked for experiences from South Korea's digital countryside:
In 2001, South Korea launched the "Information Village" program to build an ultra-high-speed Internet environment and e-commerce infrastructure for rural areas with backward information technology. The village information committee is responsible for the government's professional information guidance personnel, the operation and maintenance of rural information organisations, and the supervision and improvement of villagers' information literacy.( line 130 of the text)
In addition, we found that South Korea's experience in using digital twins technology in land management is also worth learning from China in the construction of digital villages. The study found that digital twins and land have shared characteristics, encompassing physical land, virtual land, and land-related data. In terms of processing for digitalization in the virtual space, sufficient budget and human resource management have been identified as important elements. As for analysis and simulation conducted in the virtual space, trust in the model of analysis and simulation needs to be developed through verification and job rotation in the civil service. ( line 1629 of the text)
Second, the construction of digital villages in Japan has provided China with positive inspiration in terms of organizational forms, technology promotion and digital education for villagers. We found that through e-commerce legislation, Japan has established an electronic trading platform for agricultural products and a professional online store for agricultural products, which has realized the specialization and large-scale management of agricultural products. In addition, Japan has integrated private-sector digital technologies into rural public services, addressing the declining utilization, income, and attractiveness of rural public transportation. (line136-139;line262-268)
Japan Agricultural Association is a not-for-profit national agricultural organization, which provides a lot of guidance for the development of agricultural industrialization for Japanese farmers. With its strong organizational capacity, Japan Agricultural Association promotes digitalization, which greatly promotes the rapid and large-scale promotion of agricultural digitalization in rural Japan. This provides a reference for the improvement of digital literacy of rural residents in China. (line1144-1147)
Third, We found that during the period of the epidemic, Brazil promoted the rapid development of online shopping, electronic payment, distance education, and digitalization of agriculture through projects such as "WI-FI Brazil", "Connectivity in the North and Northeast", and "Smart City", which promoted the digitalization of the economy and people's livelihood. This also provides inspiration for the construction of China's digital countryside.(line142-151)
Similarly noteworthy is the experience of India, which has been working to provide digital literacy education to its residents through specific organizations, the Indian government's PMGDISHA program to provide digital literacy education to 60 million citizens in rural areas, and digital literacy training for students from minority communities. In addition, the study found that the spread of mobile phones has made it easier for people with mobile phones to access health care, but has exacerbated the situation of people without mobile phones in poor areas. This also provides inspiration for China in terms of digital poverty reduction.(line139-141;line358,1643)
What needs illustration is that, in the second paragraph of Introduction, the experiences of Japan, South Korea, India,and Brazil in digital infrastructure construction, legislation, digital literacy, and e-commerce are introduced to provide mutual learning for the construction of digital villages in different countries. In the third paragraph of the Introduction, the experience of various countries is analyzed and evaluated, the Managerial Implication of the Conclusion draws on the experience of other countries.
In addition, Part 2.3 of the literature review introduces three methods for the construction of digital economy index, which come from different countries and international organizations (EU, US and OECD). Through these comparisons, it lays the groundwork for this study to build an index system that conforms to the actual construction of China's digital countryside.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript can be accepted in present form.
