Understand how the adoption of new technologies evolves
Guide policies for deployment of new technologies
Predictions of introduction times for future technologies (Meade and Islam 2021):
Network operators
Suppliers of network equipment
Regulatory authorities
As in temporal diffusion models, an S-shaped pattern in the cumulative level of adoption
A hierarchy effect: from main centers to secondary ones – central places
A neighborhood effect: diffusion proceeds outwards from innovation centers, first “hitting” nearby rather than far-away locations (Grubler 1990)
Hägerstrand (1965): from innovative centers (core) through a hierarchy of subcenters, to the periphery
Map internet infrastructure
backbone (Malecki 2002; Tranos 2013)
last mile (Riddlesden and Singleton 2014; Budnitz and Tranos 2022)
Social media and user generated content
Because new digital activities are rarely—if ever—captured in official state data, researchers must rely on information gathered from alternative sources (Zook and McCanless 2022).