INTRODUCTION: The digital economy and the splintering of economic space

In 2001, the first major transatlantic telesurgical operation was carried out: doctors in the United States removed a gall bladder from a 68-year-old woman in France by remotely controlling a surgical robot arm. The two medical teams were linked by a high-speed fiber-optic loop. The time delay between the surgeon’s movements and the return video image displayed on screen was less than 200 milliseconds (BBC News 2001; Marescaux et al. 2001).