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Drawing on a comparison between France and Italy, this paper considers the potential and the problems associated with digital development in rural areas facing demographic decline. The cases of Arvieu in Aveyron and Biccari in Puglia show the lack of national policy frameworks for digital innovation and the emergence of local arrangements. Digital innovation is therefore seen, on the one hand, as an opportunity for local actors to support repopulation measures and, on the other hand, as a tool that gives local people freedom to construct their own individual strategies. This comparison offers an opportunity to consider neglected aspects of digital development of rural territories, as well as an invitation to incorporate digital innovation into multisectoral territorial strategies adapted to different contemporary rural territories.