The developments in telecommunications infrastructure and digital technologies and their global diffusion have changed the modes of operation of the design professions, and drastically extended their territorial reach. Computer-assisted drafting equipment (CAD) is now used by the overwhelming majority of the design professions around the globe, and drawings are moved between offices for the most part electronically. This operative climate has fostered the growth of digital outsourcing opportunities. The motto of one Delhi-based design and documentation service bureau reflects the spirit of this new development: “... we are your extended global studio, managed by our professional staff, directed by your in-house team, and secured by close relationships that form the very foundation of our enterprise”. It goes on to claim “... our production staff, compared head-to-head with ... firm’s in-house production staff, were 30% more efficient, 25% more accurate, and 75% less expensive.”

The unprecedented opening of international markets, complemented with developments in digital technologies, offers architectural firms the chance to organise their geographic structure according to relative employment and production advantages for services they seek or can deliver. In the architecture profession where internal competition is high, fee levels are either shrinking or dramatically inadequate, and returns are diminishing, digital outsourcing is a highly attractive option. Despite their promises, distant design collaborations are not homogenous or uniform in structure and returns. Instead, they assume increasingly different forms, involve people with varying skills, experiences and backgrounds, and present different associated risks. Amid this variety, it is difficult to say whether the international division of labour in design is going to work on the whole, and whether or not we are entering a new phase in the delivery of professional services. To answer these questions, detailed research on the empirical experience and the lessons of global outsourcing is needed.

Our research examines the industrial restructuring potential of ICT-enabled transnational architectural services by focusing on socio-economic and cultural variables rather than concentrating only on technological infrastructure aspects and technical modalities. Specifically, our research aims to provide answers to three sets of questions: (1) What are the quantifiable advantages and drawbacks of offshore collaborations and do they change according to socio-technical characteristics of collaborating offices? (2) To what degree do such elements as technical specialisation, professional preparation, access to information technology, educational background, cultural cohesion and previous job experience affect the performance of firms engaged in the digital supply of architecture-related services? (3) Is there a way to quantify the cost of the transactions involved in distant collaborations, and use these costs as indicators of future geographic shifts in the procurement of design services? This paper reports results from the initial stage of our research experiments, data collection, analyses and findings.