Is technology shaping our mobility lives?

Abstract

Information and communication technologies have rapidly become part of our lives: as social beings we have shifted from geographical spaces to virtual spaces. The interactions between individuals have also changed, sometimes to bring us closer and sometimes to move us apart. Communication networks enable the creation of new connections, links and relationships, and also provide new ways of communication: real-time, instant and geo-referenced information can travel around the world in milliseconds. This new era is called «The Information Era» and is definitely changing our behavioral and mobility patterns. This paper analyzes the question: How is technology shaping our mobility lives? This topic is broken down into three main focuses of discussion: first, the power of crowdsourcing; second, tracking and geo-referenced systems; and third, automation and teleservices.