Global Digital Networks

Abstract

In this paper we propose the theoretical framework of Global Digital Networks (GDN) for analyzing how territorialized digital infrastructures, practices and governance contribute to differentiated economic and social activity. We contend that the deepening incorporation of the digital (data, algorithms, ML, AI, etc.) has led and will further lead to a fundamental restructuring of the economy. Building upon previous framings within economic geography – notably global production networks and global financial networks – we argue that a digital-centered approach is essential for understanding variegated development across territorial scale. The GDN framework adds a focus on consumption, acknowledges data “escapes” from production and financial networks, and highlights new ways firms are entangled with each other, places and people. We outline an ontology of current data practices that cross, use and subvert territorial differences with the goal of establishing a series of idealized typologies of GDN structures.