Cyberinfrastructure Value: a survey on perceived importance and usage

TL;DR

This survey assesses the perceived importance and actual usage of cyberinfrastructure resources, specifically XSEDE, highlighting its critical role in research funding, product development, and project completion across the US scientific community.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into how XSEDE resources are valued and utilized by researchers, quantifying their impact on research funding and outputs.

Findings

Majority find XSEDE important for their work

Two-thirds developed products using XSEDE resources

Respondents secured approximately $3.3 billion in research funding

Abstract

The research landscape in science and engineering is heavily reliant on computation and data storage. The intensity of computation required for many research projects illustrates the importance of the availability of high performance computing (HPC) resources and services. This paper summarizes the results of a recent study among principal investigators that attempts to measure the impact of the cyberinfrastructure (CI) resources allocated by the XSEDE (eXtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment) project to various research activities across the United States. Critical findings from this paper include: a majority of respondents report that the XSEDE environment is important or very important in completing their funded work, and two-thirds of our study's respondents developed products (e.g., datasets, websites, software, etc.) using XSEDE-allocated resources. With nearly one-third of respondents citing the importance of XSEDE-allocated resources in securing research funding, we estimate that respondents of this survey have secured approximately $3.3B in research funding from various sources, as self-reported by respondents.