Creating the First Autonomous Systems of Internet in Siberia as a Spatial Diffusion of Innovations

The spread of innovations affects the socio-economic development of regions, but the specifics of such a spread are not always clear. Contagious or hierarchical spatial diffusion is usually studied. However, the spread of information and communication innovations has led to the need to understand network diffusion. Previously, it has not been studied using artificial intelligence algorithms and applied to autonomous systems of Internet, which is understood as a geographically distributed (local or regional) network with a single management body and its own routing policy. Therefore, the purpose of our research was to identify the spatial and temporal features of the first autonomous systems’ creation in Siberia using a specially developed algorithm for machine generation of rules and meta-rules. The study was based on a priori rules obtained by analyzing the deployment of postal networks in pre-Soviet Siberia, data on the registration of autonomous systems in Siberia in 1995–2017, and the values of seven socio-economic indicators that influence the spread of innovation. An algorithm for the machine generation of logical inference rules using a scheme of genetic selection and the construction of meta-rules using clustering rules is proposed. The proposed algorithm was used to study the spread of innovation in 44 localities (centers of autonomous systems) and 12 regions of Siberia. Eight meta-rules for promoting innovation between cities and 3 meta-rules for spreading innovation across regions were obtained. Two waves of innovation, three periods of network formation, and three atypical cases of autonomous systems creation have been identified. It has been established that Siberia is characterized by the priority provision of Internet access in the centers of large regions, a predominantly linear territorial structure and a pulsating spread of innovation. Five directions for further study of the diffusion process are proposed. Practical significance may be associated with the development of measures to minimize the negative socio-economic consequences of information-communication technologies’ introduction, including spatial digital inequality