Dear colleagues, please find here a call for abstracts for a session on "*Emerging Methods and Approaches for Researching Internet Infrastructures* " at the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers 2026 (September 1-4, London). We would be pleased to receive contribution proposals from AoIR! Best regards, Finn Dammann & Louis Petiniaud #### *Emerging Methods and Approaches for Researching Internet Infrastructures* In recent years, various academic disciplines have developed a renewed interest in the geographies of Internet infrastructures. This has drawn attention to the often overlooked infrastructural conditions of data flows and their political embeddedness. For example, studies on the geographies of digital network interconnection discuss the importance of urban (colocation) data centres for international data traffic (Monstadt & Saltzman, 2025; Rosa, 2021), work on the geographies of submarine cables, landing stations and Internet shutdowns describe postcolonial path dependencies in transcontinental data flows (Dambrosio et al., 2025; Grover, 2023; Mwema & Birhane, 2024;), studies on the geographies of network topologies reveal state measures of national data isolation or control (Douzet et al., 2022; Limonier et al., 2021; Salamatian et al., 2021), and work on the geographies of digital platforms discuss the close future of a spatially fragmented and simultaneously centralised (post-)Internet (Huston, 2023; Stocker et al., 2021). At the same time, one of the greatest challenges for critical social science research continues to be the challenging empirical and methodological approaches to these often „invisible“ geographies (Furlong, 2021). In this session, we therefore would like to bring together specific methodological and methodological-conceptual approaches for further research on Internet infrastructures. We are interested in both more ‘quantitative’ methods, such as those related to computer sciences and Internet measurements, and more ‘qualitative’ and ethnographic approaches, as well as methods for mapping physical Internet infrastructures. In addition, we welcome ideas for contributions that address broader methodological reflections or establish disciplinary historical references to research methods on Internet infrastructures. Please send a 250-word abstract and a 50-word bio to finn.dammann@fau.de andl.petiniaud@gmail.com by 27th February 2026. Keywords: Internet Infrastructures, Methods, Digital Geography, Internet Geographies, Cloud *Literature* Dambrosio, S., Díaz Bejarano, N., Duran Brand, C., & Thomley, L. (2025).
From Colonial Ruins to Digital Hub: The Grand Port Autonome de Marseille, a Tale of a Big Data Informal Empire in the Making. /Architectural Theory Review/, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13264826.2025.2522341
Douzet, F., Pétiniaud, L., Salamatian, K., & Samaan, J.-L. (2022). Digital routes and borders in the Middle East: The geopolitical underpinnings of Internet connectivity. /Territory, Politics, Governance/, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2022.2153726 Furlong, K. (2021). Geographies of infrastructure II: Concrete, cloud and layered (in)visibilities. /Progress in Human Geography/, /45/(1), 190–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132520923098 Grover, R. (2023). Contingent connectivity: Internet shutdowns and the infrastructural precarity of digital citizenship. /New Media & Society/, 146144482311765. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231176552 Huston, G. (2023, August 7). /On Internet Centrality and Fragmentation/. RIPE Labs. https://labs.ripe.net/author/gih/on-internet-centrality-and-fragmentation/ Limonier, K., Douzet, F., Pétiniaud, L., Salamatian, L., & Salamatian, K. (2021). Mapping the routes of the Internet for geopolitics: The case of Eastern Ukraine. /First Monday/. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v26i5.11700 Monstadt, J., & Saltzman, K. (2025). HOW DATA CENTERS HAVE COME TO MATTER : Governing the Spatial and Environmental Footprint of the ‘Digital Gateway to Europe.’ /International Journal of Urban and Regional Research/, 1468-2427.13316. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.13316 Mwema, E., & Birhane, A. (2024). Undersea cables in Africa: The new frontiers of digital colonialism. /First Monday/. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v29i4.13637 Rosa, F. R. (2021). Internet interconnection infrastructure: Lessons from the global south. /Internet Policy Review/, /10/(4). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14763/2021.4.1583 Salamatian, L., Douzet, F., Salamatian, K., & Limonier, K. (2021). The geopolitics behind the routes data travel: A case study of Iran. /Journal of Cybersecurity/, /7/(1), tyab018. https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyab018 Stocker, V., Knieps, G., & Dietzel, C. (2021). The Rise and Evolution of Clouds and Private Networks – Internet Interconnection, Ecosystem Fragmentation. /SSRN Electronic Journal/. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3910108 Warf, B. (2011). Geographies of global Internet censorship. /GeoJournal/, /76/(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-010-9393-3 -- Dr. Finn Dammann Institut für Geographie Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg https://www.geographie.fau.de/personen/finn-dammann/ www.geographie.nat.fau.de/en/ng-geographien-digitaler-infrastrukturen