Community investment

Community investment

Here's an estimate of what it cost to build and operate the U.S. Geological Survey's National Biological Information Infrastructure community Web portal (www.nbii.gov).

Portal development

* Investment in portal technology, includes hardware, software, staff: $1 million

Portal operation

* Two-and-a-half full-time equivalent employees in information technology, such as systems administration, development, support, etc.: $250,000 per year

* One to two content managers who spend 25 percent of their time on the portal, the remainder on the public Web site: $50,000 per year

* Software/hardware maintenance: $150,000 per year

Cost per community (estimates probably high)

* 15 to 20 percent of a person's time to maintain and operate community: $10,000 to $20,000 per year (depends on number of users, content, scope, salary, etc.)

* About eight to 10 hours to set up, develop basic gadgets using Plumtree Software Inc.'s Web services, which was tailored to the community: $1,000

* Integrating unique gadgets into community members' systems: $1,000 to $2,000 (depends on the Web-based system, skill, etc.)

Source: Mike Frame, director of research and technology at NBII