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XSEDE Value Added, Cost Avoidance, and Return on Investment...

Publication Type
Conference Paper
Publication Date
Page Number
23
Volume
n/a
Conference Name
2015 XSEDE Conference
Conference Location
Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America
Conference Sponsor
ACM
Conference Date
-

It is difficult for large research facilities to quantify a return on the investments that fund their operations. This is because there can be a time lag of years or decades between an innovation or discovery and the realization of its value through practical application. This report presents a three-part methodology that attempts to assess the value of federal investment in XSEDE: 1) a qualitative examination of the areas where XSEDE adds value to the activities of the open research community, 2) a “thought model” examining the cost avoidance realized by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the centralization and coordination XSEDE provides, and 3) an assessment of the value XSEDE provides to Service Providers in the XD ecosystem. XSEDE adds significantly to the US research community because it functions as a unified interface to the XD ecosystem and because of its scale. A partly quantitative, partly qualitative analysis suggests the Return on Investment of NSF spending on XSEDE is greater than 1.0. – indicating that the aggregate value received by the nation from XSEDE is greater than the cost of direct federal investment in XSEDE.