EAGER-ESOCS: Exploring Sustainability Options for Cyberinfrastructure Services

这个探索性研究（EAGER）项目的早期概念资助的目的是调查软件即服务模式是否是创建可持续网络基础设施的可行选择。虽然nsf赞助的研究项目越来越多地创造出创新的软件，但是很少，如果有的话，存在一些机制来支持这些软件的持续使用、改编和维护。ESOCS项目将探索可持续发展的社会学、技术和制度视角。它的目的是提供洞察：研究人员的购买行为和偏好；将支付机制整合到软件和大学后台系统中的挑战；以及在大学内部运营非营利性收费服务的法律和政策影响。该项目将使用Globus系统作为向研究界提供IT基础设施的范例，利用该系统的4000多名用户作为科学研究界的代表性样本。这些结果应该会引起许多与软件可持续性问题斗争的NSF支持者的兴趣。该项目将阐明如何以符合大学和NSF政策的方式提供收费软件交付方法，同时为研究人员提供无摩擦的购买体验。收费服务模式的实验将解决与各种研究团体的可接受性和采用模式有关的问题。部署的收费服务模式将提供有价值的数据和见解，这些数据和见解可以应用于其他大型网络基础设施资源提供商，当联邦机构对这些项目的资助结束时，这些资源提供商将面临可持续性挑战。

The objective of this EArly concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project is to investigate whether the software-as-a-service model is a viable option for creating sustainable cyberinfrastructure. While NSF-sponsored research projects increasingly create innovative software, few, if any, mechanisms exist to support the ongoing use, adaptation, and maintenance of such software. The ESOCS project will explore the sociological, technical, and institutional perspectives of sustainability. It aims to provide insight into: researcher buying behavior and preferences; the challenges of integrating payment mechanisms into software and university back office systems; and the legal and policy implications of operating a non-profit, for-fee service from within a university. The project will use the Globus system as an exemplar of providing IT infrastructure to the research community, tapping into the system's more than 4,000 users as a representative sample of the scientific research community.The results should be of interest to the many NSF constituencies who struggle with issues of software sustainability. The project will shed light on how for-fee software delivery methods can be provided in a way that is consistent with university and NSF policies, while providing a frictionless purchasing experience for researchers. Experiments with for-fee service models will address questions relating to acceptability and adoption patterns within various research communities. The for-fee service models deployed will provide valuable data and insights that may be applied to other large-scale cyberinfrastructure resource providers that face sustainability challenges when federal agency funding for these projects ends.