NSF Workshop on the Economics of Cloud Computing

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Public cloud computing is rapidly becoming the foundation of our information-based economy. Users are adopting cloud platforms in lieu of maintaining dedicated computing infrastructure primarily due to the resulting savings in costs. Since cloud platforms earn revenue from utilizing their infrastructure by renting it out to customers, and earn no revenue if their infrastructure is idle, their goal is to maximize utilization. The increasing complexity of cloud markets raises new research challenges for both users and providers that are inherently economic. This award will support the organization of a workshop to bring together researchers from computer systems and networks and from the fields of economics, finance, and operations research to define important research challenges at the intersection of economics and cloud computing over the next 5-10 years. The research agenda of the workshop has the potential for broad and transformative impact on the US and beyond by fostering a new interdisciplinary community in this nascent area, identifying its key research challenges, and laying the foundation for future innovations that increase the efficiency of using cloud computing resources. Furthermore, the workshop will engage early career scholars and those from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented groups to connect them with a broad community of academic and industrial researchers interested in the intersection of economics and computer systems and networking. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.