The global grid and the tyranny of proximity

Global information infrastructures have been credited with the 'death' of the 'tyranny of distance' that was observed by Blainey in his 1966 analysis of the socio-economic development of Australia. The 'death of distance' implies that any capability accessed over a distance is ultimately available to all and cannot sustain a competitive advantage. One consequence of this is what Turnbull describes as the 'tyranny of proximity' or the 'Adelaide Syndrome,' where globalisation results in the concentration of business and talent drawn from less economically active regions in order to build 'local' advantage. There is compelling evidence for this position, however such an extrapolation relies heavily on the ceteris paribus principle and in the case of high productivity Grid computing the relationship between distance and economic geography appears too complex for this principle to apply. This paper explores this relationship within a UK Economic and Social Research Council project that has linked grid computing resources in Australia and the UK and applied these resources to grid-enabled business data in both countries to help counter one emerging disadvantage of regional concentration: the growth of a 'psychic' distance with customers. Drawing parallels with Edison's first Grid, we use this project to focus on the value of the Grid to existing business as a necessary pre-condition for its role in transforming business.