资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Organizations commonly use a system of metrics to track the outcomes of their activities, and these assessments can be critical to demonstrating the return on investment or progress toward the organization’s mission. These assessments also can be important for prioritizing future activities and investments, because they provide evidence of past successes and failures. One popular and well-developed tool is an impact assessment (sometimes also referred to as an impact evaluation)—a rigorous, quantitative study that compares outcomes with and without the activity.

For example, consider an international aid program designed to increase women’s access to agriculture and nutrition training in Bangladesh or a set of proposed regulations that tighten fuel economy standards for vehicles. In both contexts, an impact assessment would compare outcomes with and without the intervention to better understand its effects.

But what happens when the activity that is being assessed is the generation of scientific information? Just like in international development, public policy, and many other fields, scientists can conduct impact assessments to quantify the value of improved scientific information, drawing on tools from the field of economics and, in particular, a technique known as the Value of Information (VOI) method. This type of impact assessment investigates how new data influence decisions and quantifies how these decisions improve societal outcomes, such as lives or dollars saved.