Application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to R1 institutions
High-performance computing (HPC) is widely used in higher education for modeling, simulation, and AI applications. A critical piece of infrastructure with which to secure funding, attract and retain faculty, and teach students, supercomputers come with high capital and operating costs that must be c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frma.2025.1449996/full |
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| author | Preston M. Smith Jill Gemmill David Y. Hancock Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Winona Snapp-Childs Winona Snapp-Childs James Wilgenbusch |
| author_facet | Preston M. Smith Jill Gemmill David Y. Hancock Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Winona Snapp-Childs Winona Snapp-Childs James Wilgenbusch |
| author_sort | Preston M. Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | High-performance computing (HPC) is widely used in higher education for modeling, simulation, and AI applications. A critical piece of infrastructure with which to secure funding, attract and retain faculty, and teach students, supercomputers come with high capital and operating costs that must be considered against other competing priorities. This study applies the concepts of the production function model from economics with two thrusts: (1) to evaluate if previous research on building a model for quantifying the value of investment in research computing is generalizable to a wider set of universities, and (2) to define a model with which to capacity plan HPC investment, based on institutional production—inverting the production function. We show that the production function model does appear to generalize, showing positive institutional returns from the investment in computing resources and staff. We do, however, find that the relative relationships between model inputs and outputs vary across institutions, which can often be attributed to understandable institution-specific factors. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a2682f59d262485fba11f30b619ff23e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2504-0537 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics |
| spelling | doaj-art-a2682f59d262485fba11f30b619ff23e2025-08-21T05:27:11ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics2504-05372025-08-011010.3389/frma.2025.14499961449996Application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to R1 institutionsPreston M. Smith0Jill Gemmill1David Y. Hancock2Brian W. O'Shea3Brian W. O'Shea4Brian W. O'Shea5Brian W. O'Shea6Winona Snapp-Childs7Winona Snapp-Childs8James Wilgenbusch9Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United StatesResearch Computing and Data, Clemson Computing & Information Technology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United StatesResearch Technologies Division, Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United StatesInstitute for Cyber-Enabled Research, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United StatesDepartment of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United StatesDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United StatesFacility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United StatesResearch Technologies Division, Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United StatesPervasive Technology Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United StatesResearch Computing, Research & Innovation Office, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, United StatesHigh-performance computing (HPC) is widely used in higher education for modeling, simulation, and AI applications. A critical piece of infrastructure with which to secure funding, attract and retain faculty, and teach students, supercomputers come with high capital and operating costs that must be considered against other competing priorities. This study applies the concepts of the production function model from economics with two thrusts: (1) to evaluate if previous research on building a model for quantifying the value of investment in research computing is generalizable to a wider set of universities, and (2) to define a model with which to capacity plan HPC investment, based on institutional production—inverting the production function. We show that the production function model does appear to generalize, showing positive institutional returns from the investment in computing resources and staff. We do, however, find that the relative relationships between model inputs and outputs vary across institutions, which can often be attributed to understandable institution-specific factors.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frma.2025.1449996/fullcyberinfrastructureROIHPCeconomicsvalue propositionresearch computing and data |
| spellingShingle | Preston M. Smith Jill Gemmill David Y. Hancock Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Brian W. O'Shea Winona Snapp-Childs Winona Snapp-Childs James Wilgenbusch Application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to R1 institutions Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics cyberinfrastructure ROI HPC economics value proposition research computing and data |
| title | Application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to R1 institutions |
| title_full | Application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to R1 institutions |
| title_fullStr | Application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to R1 institutions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to R1 institutions |
| title_short | Application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to R1 institutions |
| title_sort | application of the cyberinfrastructure production function model to r1 institutions |
| topic | cyberinfrastructure ROI HPC economics value proposition research computing and data |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frma.2025.1449996/full |
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