Tobler’s first law in the digital economy based on the Internet of Everything: Priority issues

Abstract

Introduction. W. Tobler, an American researcher, worded the first law of geographyby linking the location with the interaction among economic agents. This produced spatial analysis and shaped spatial interactions in the pre-Internet era. However, the development of information and communication technologies doubted the significance of location and spatial distance in the emerging digital economy based on the Internet of People. Scientific discussions concerning this issue and empirical studies established that the modern digital economy, including the one derived from the Internet of Things, partially depends on the actual geographical space. In the next decade, further development of technologiescould lead to a digital economy based on the Internet of Everything. Currently, there is no data about how spatially distributed economic agents will interact in the future digital world. Purpose. The article formulates the questions concerningthe Tobler’s first law with their future answers to confirm or refute the hypothesis about the spatial interactions in the digital economy based on the Internet of Everything. Results. To achieve this goal, the Tobler’s first law is examined for the first time in the Russian scientific literature. Key implications and ambiguities of this law are formulated. The spatial interaction concept is clarified. The Internet of Things and the Internet of Everything are briefly described. The future digital economy is outlined, and the key questions are formulated.Conclusion. Seven questions are given with their answers to assist us in identifying spatial interactions from different perspectives by machine-to-machine interaction, coverage of all types of economic activity, geographical proximity to the end user, gravitational interaction, economic-geographical location, economic regionalization, and spatial autocorrelation.