The research objective of this Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) award is to better understand the properties of information value within the context of resource allocation decisions made under significant uncertainty. For example, the core of the Department of Homeland Security's National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) is a risk-based resource allocation, which includes both risk assessment and prioritization phases. The risk assessment provides information that is used during the prioritization or resource allocation phase. While prioritization methods have been extensively studied, the relationship between the risk assessment and prioritization phases has not, leaving many interesting questions unanswered. For example, how is the value of the risk assessment related to the structure of the underlying resource allocation problem? As resources become tighter or the need becomes greater, thereby constraining the funding of NIPP programs, should we spend more on risk assessment to improve the allocation decision? Do tighter resource constraints in one area mean that we should allocate additional resources to another? Deliverables of this research include reviews of the value of information and resource allocation literatures, model formulations, identification of value of information drivers in diverse settings, archival journal publications, and engineering student education.
If successful, this research will enable us to better design information gathering and analysis activities within constrained resource allocation settings, which has wide applicability in government and in industries ranging from oil and gas exploration and production to life sciences research and development. This improved design will increase the efficiency of resource allocation decisions, enabling better funding of critical projects. The results of this research will be transferred to graduate and undergraduate engineering students through direct involvement in the research and incorporation of findings into classroom instruction.
