Assessment of financial returns on investments in cyberinfrastructure facilities: A survey of current methods

Craig A. Stewart, David Y. Hancock, Julie Wernert, Thomas Furlani, David Lifka, Alan Sill,
Nicholas Berente, Donald F. McMullen, Thomas Cheatham, Amy Apon, Ron Payne, Shawn D. Slavin. 2019. In Proceedings of the Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing on Rise of the Machines (PEARC ’19). Pages 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1145/3332186.3332228

In recent years, considerable attention has been given to assessing the value of investments in cyberinfrastructure (CI). This paper includes a survey of current methods for the assessment of financial returns on investment (ROI) in CI. Applying the financial concept of ROI proves challenging with regard to a service that, in most academic environments, does not generate a “sold amount” such as one would find in the buying and selling of stocks. The paper concludes with a discussion of future research directions and challenges in the assessment of financial ROI in CI. This work is intended less as a definitive guide than as a starting point for further exploration in the assessment of CI’s value for scientific research.