ABSTRACT
The digital divide contributes to an array undesirable outcomes and processes, which have wide-ranging social and economic implications. It also creates biases and inconsistencies in data and analysis based on the data, which affect their reliability, statistical precision and generalizability. This chapter examines the current technological landscape, and looks boldly ahead to a terrain that is likely to be evermore dominated by a collection of disruptive cyber-physical technologies and systems. Some of the examples are smart robotics, 3D printing, automated vehicles, nanotechnology, AI, Blockchain, the IoTs, the Cloud and Cloud robotics, a trend which some say is propelling us head on into a Fourth Industrial Revolution. The chapter concludes with an agenda for future research, along with some thoughts and exciting prospects for regional science moving forward. Another dimension of the current digital divide relates to quality of Internet access or more precisely access to broadband.
