Depopulated rural or post-industrial areas, which are often low-income with
fewer job opportunities, represent an open challenge for the European Union.
Sharp demographic declines especially in Eastern and Southern Europe, due
to the intra-EU migration of younger, skilled workers from these areas have
become a serious obstacle to the sustainable development of many EU lowerincome regions. The European Parliament highlights the gap in ICT connectivity
among other reasons.
This paper aims to provide empirical evidence, by applying Panel Data
Analysis, that digitalisation of European NUTS-2 regions with lower incomes via
Broadband Access may contribute to reversing negative demographic trends.