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).
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 centres to secondary ones – central places
A neighborhood effect: diffusion proceeds outwards from innovation centres, first “hitting” nearby rather than far-away locations (Grubler 1990)
Hägerstrand (1965): from innovative centres (core) through a hierarchy of sub-centres, to the periphery
Archived web data
Observe commercial websites 1996 - 2012 in the UK (.co.uk)
Geolocate:
to a unique postcode
to multiple postcodes