FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Oct. 3 — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration have awarded International Data Corporation (IDC) a three-year grant to conduct a full study of returns on investments (ROI) in high performance computing (HPC), IDC announced today.

The full study follows IDC’s successful completion of a 2013 pilot study on this topic for DOE. In the pilot study, IDC created the first economic models for predicting ROI associated with HPC, both in the form of innovation and financial returns. IDC tested these models on over 200 real-world examples and went through four iterations of the models. For the full study, IDC will use the economic models to quantify and classify ROI from thousands of examples IDC collects.

The macroeconomic model depicts how HPC investments result in economic advancements. The innovation index provides a means for measuring and comparing innovation levels among nations based on their levels of applying HPC computing resources toward scientific, technological, and economic advancement.

“Nations and companies around the world increasingly recognize that HPC contributes enormously to science, industrial competitiveness, national security, and the quality of human life,” said Earl Joseph, Program Vice President, High Performance Computing at IDC. “The full study will more deeply quantify these contributions in relation to the investments that made them possible.”

The predictive macroeconomic models will take into consideration how research and development investments are currently justified and how results are measured in each of the government, academic, and industry market segments IDC has closely tracked for more than two decades, Joseph said.

“We are creating tools and data that governments, universities, and companies can use to help make future HPC funding and purchasing decisions,” said Steve Conway, Research Vice President, High Performance Computing at IDC. “Our goal for this grant award is to refine the predictive models to ensure that they correlate well with real-world practices and with a wide range of sample data representing real-world innovations.”

Another member of the IDC team, Chirag DeKate, Research Manager, High Performance Systems, noted that in a worldwide IDC study, 97% of the companies that adopted HPC said they now consider it indispensable for their ability to compete and survive. He said some countries and regions are putting in place aggressive plans to gain leadership in innovation and economic progress by more broadly applying HPC.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. In 2014, IDC celebrates its 50th anniversary of providing strategic insights to help clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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Source: International Data Corporation