FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Source data
Type Paper
Cite as Citation reference for the source document. Joshua M. Pearce. (2015) Return on Investment for Open Source Hardware Development. Science and Public Policy. 43(2),192-195 (2016). DOI:10.1093/scipol/scv034 open access

The availability of free and open source hardware designs that can be replicated with low-cost 3-D printers provide large values to scientists that need highly-customized low-volume production scientific equipment. Digital manufacturing technologies have only recently become widespread and the return on investment (ROI) was not clear, so funding for open hardware development was historically sparse. This paper clarifies a method for determining an ROI for FOSH scientific hardware development. By using open source hardware design that can be manufactured digitally the relatively minor development costs result in enormous ROIs for the scientific community. A case study is presented of an syringe pump released under open-licenses, which results in ROIs for funders ranging from 100s to 1,000s of percent after only a few months. It is clear that policies encouraging free and open source scientific hardware development should be made by organizations interested in maximizing return on public investments for science.

mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
Making Open Hardware the New Standard in Science @ 2015 Open Source Hardware Summit

See also[edit | edit source]

Roi.jpg

In the News[edit | edit source]

mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
Why fund open source scientific hardware
FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Authors Joshua M. Pearce
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 7 pages link here
Impact 499 page views
Created July 14, 2015 by Joshua M. Pearce
Modified July 14, 2023 by Felipe Schenone
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.