Digital networks and global interconnection

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**Information and communications technology** — the hardware, networks and software that move information (internet, phones, satellites, data centres).

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As ICT improves, the **friction of distance shrinks**, so distant places feel closer in time and cost even though real distance is unchanged.

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The **movement of digital information** (messages, money, media, files) across networks between places.

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The **uneven access to ICT** between rich and poor countries, and between people within them — some are far better connected than others.

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Remote **data centres** that store and process information over the internet, so a file or service can be reached from anywhere.

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**Data and information**, **finance** and **communication** — they have little physical form, so they cross borders as data in seconds.

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**Energy, food and raw materials** — oil, grain and iron ore must be piped, shipped or trucked; they cannot be digitised.

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Digital networks usually **coordinate** physical flows (plan, price and track shipments) rather than replacing them.

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**Trafficking** of people, **counterfeit** goods, **narcotics** and **hidden (laundered) money**.

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The flows are **deliberately hidden**, counting methods differ and seizures capture only a fraction — so any figure is a rough estimate.

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Illicit flows shape real places (crime, exploitation, lost revenue), so governments need **rough estimates** to govern them — what is unmeasured goes ungoverned.

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**FOR** the claim, then **AGAINST** the claim, then a **JUDGEMENT** that answers how far the claim holds — never a fence-sit.