Designing a Gateway Influencer Recruitment Plan to Accelerate Adoption and Diffusion

Science gateways adoption and diffusion can be increased and accelerated through influence and outreach by using opinion leaders or gateways influencers. In this paper, we describe how influencers can help accelerate the spread of technology and how they can be utilized in a gateways context. Specifically, we identified how current gateway staff can be trained to identify and recruit influencers and how to systematically prepare an ‘influencer recruitment plan’; we explained how influencers might differ across domains (e.g., science vs. humanities); and we offer suggestions on how influencers can be integrated into the gateways workforce. Our framework for identifying influencers could aid in ensuring the continued growth and sustainability of the gateways community in the long term.