Spatio-temporal models of ICT diffusion

The article proposes a space-time approach to modeling the diffusion of information and communication technologies based on the Fisher – Kolmogorov – Petrovsky – Piskunov equation, in which the diffusion kinetics is described by the Bass model, which is widely used to model the diffusion of innovations in the market. For this equation, its equilibrium positions are studied, and based on the singular perturbation theory, was obtained an approximate solution in the form of a traveling wave, i. e. a solution that propagates at a constant speed while maintaining its shape in space. The wave speed shows how much the “spatial” characteristic, which determines the given level of technology dissemination, changes in a single time interval. This speed is significantly higher than the speed at which propagation occurs due to diffusion. By constructing such an autowave solution, it becomes possible to estimate the time required for the subject of research to achieve the current indicator of the leader.
The obtained approximate solution was further applied to assess the factors affecting the rate of dissemination of information and communication technologies in the federal districts of the Russian Federation. Various socio-economic indicators were considered as “spatial” variables for the diffusion of mobile communications among the population. Growth poles in which innovation occurs are usually characterized by the highest values of “spatial” variables. For Russia, Moscow is such a growth pole; therefore, indicators of federal districts related to Moscow’s indicators were considered as factor indicators. The best approximation to the initial data was obtained for the ratio of the share of R&D costs in GRP to the indicator of Moscow, average for the period 2000–2009. It was found that for the Ural Federal District at the initial stage of the spread of mobile communications, the lag behind the capital was less than one year, for the Central Federal District, the Northwestern Federal District — 1.4 years, for the Volga Federal District, the Siberian Federal District, the Southern Federal District and the Far Eastern Federal District — less than two years, in the North Caucasian Federal District — a little more 2 years. In addition, estimates of the delay time for the spread of digital technologies (intranet, extranet, etc.) used by organizations of the federal districts of the Russian Federation from Moscow indicators were obtained.