The remote work revolution and its opposing impacts on islands

Traditionally, most work has been tied to a specific location. This pushed rural-urban migration within countries, and international migration as people looked for economic opportunities. For people in remote areas, this often meant that the only way to find work was to move to a bigger city, driving the spatial concentration of people into big urban centers.

But things are no changing. The slow march of improving internet and communication technologies have created new perspectives on what it means to work. The term “work” itself is gradually shifting from being a “place” to a “state of being” and many people can work from anywhere that has an internet connection.

This trend allows people more flexibility to work from where they want to – leading to two, perhaps opposing, patterns. For some, remote work means travelling the world as digital nomads and having the opportunity and freedom to experience new places. For others, remote work is the opportunity to stay living in their home communities while still taking advantage of global opportunities. To take advantage of this trend, new coworking spaces are popping up on islands like Saaremaa and Arranmore aimed at both providing a service to locals and attract long-stay visitors.

This revolution is creating something bigger. A new breed of entrepreneurs and innovators without borders are creating big things for their communities. The internet enables them to access enormous knowledge and to share theirs. Diverse island’s experiences were shared during last year’s Virtual Island Summit to serve as lessons for the rest of the world. Additionally, Island Innovation‘s own team is 100% remote with members in the UK, Netherlands, Venezuela (Margarita Island), Ghana and Jamaica.

Do you know of other islands or communities looking to take advantage of remote working? Please check out our partners at Islands Revival in Scotland and let us know of more examples in the members-only Island Innovation Facebook Group and LinkedIn Group.