As the outsourcing and offshoring phenomena matured, the marketplace has sought increased differentiation on the basis of location through a range of ‘shoring’ and ‘sourcing’ terms. “Rural-sourcing,” “two-shoring,” “best-shoring,” and at least a dozen other expressions have emerged.

Prominent among these is “nearshore,” which first appeared in the software/IT field in an article about an entrepreneurial software development venture established in the island of Barbados. Nearshore was presented then as a reaction to the main offshore destination, India, which was viewed as “farshore,” a very distant destination, many hours to travel, many time zones away, and a very different culture …. | why nearshore means that distance matters