The concept of a digital hub is a relatively recent one when applied to development of the agrifood industry and rural areas. Experience of establishing digital hubs is still being accumulated, meaning that the concept is expanding and becoming more diverse. The aim of this document is to outline and conceptualize the most recent processes implemented in countries of the region and around the world.
 

▪ In the field of computing, a hub often refers to a device used to connect and expand a network. In transport, a hub refers to an interchange or connection for transport of cargo or persons. It can therefore be said that a hub brings together materials, ideas or parties at a point, with a purpose of organizing or exchanging.

▪ When applied to company structures, a hub is similar to the concept of a cluster, as championed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and many other authors, which is understood to refer to a geographical concentration of interconnected companies, service providers, research centres and other related bodies. Based on this definition, a hub can be conceived as a physical concentration of parties at a given territorial level, developing networks for interaction in order to pursue a shared innovation and development goal. The adjective “digital”, meanwhile, may indicate one of two things: that digital technology is the area of interest and shared goal, which gives a hub purpose (for instance, an agricultural hub or mining hub specializing in digital solutions) or that a hub has another area of interest or purpose and digital technology is merely the tool that enables and drives the related development. Examples of the latter might be hubs for sharing or developing all sorts of mining, agricultural or other technology, with links formed using digital tools. In such cases, digital technology is only a tool that contributes to the internal communications of the cluster (Martínez, 2023).