The social value of Earth Observation: A new evaluation framework for public high-tech infrastructures

Landoni, M. , Morretta, V. and Florio, M. (2023) The social value of Earth Observation: A new evaluation framework for public high-tech infrastructures. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 67, pp. 407-419. (doi: 10.1016/j.strueco.2023.09.003)

Abstract

This paper addresses the main challenges of evaluating the socio-economic impact of high-tech infrastructures, using Earth observation (EO) as an example. EO is a critical domain of the space economy, providing valuable insights into planet Earth's natural and societal aspects. As national agencies invest in high-tech infrastructures like EO, there is a growing need for evaluate their socio-economic returns (not to be confused with their financial returns). However, there is no clear consensus on how to assess such social impact. Building on a new field of studies of social cost–benefit analysis of research infrastructures and the socio-economic impact of investment in the space economy, we propose a new evaluation framework that considers the various stakeholders along the EO value chain. This approach can be adapted to evaluate the socio-economic returns of other high-tech public infrastructures, such as telescopes, particle accelerators, genomic platforms, synchrotron light sources, supercomputers and cloud infrastructures.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Landoni, Mr Matteo

Creator Roles

Landoni, M.: Writing – review and editing, Supervision, Project administration

• Authors: Landoni, M., Morretta, V., and Florio, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Journal Name: Structural Change and Economic Dynamics
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0954-349X
• ISSN (Online): 1873-6017
• Published Online: 09 September 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright: © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 67: 407-419
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence