relates-to:: 07-Projects/TTSU/Articles/The Periodic Table of Tech Start-Ups/README

source:: wikipedia

TRL stands for Technology Readiness Level. This is a measure of technology readiness, accepted internationally. Was originally promoted by the US Department of Defense to assess the maturity of advanced technologies.

It is used to measure the progress of a technology from idea to market. The TRL scale is composed of nine levels, which are as follows:

1. Basic Principles Observed and Reported:

   • Deliverable: Report basic scientific principles related to the technology.
   • Relevant questions: What are the scientific principles behind the technology?

2. Technology Concept and/or Application Formulated:

   • Deliverable: Formulation of a concept or an application for the technology. No hardware or software available yet.
   • Relevant questions: List targeted applications?

3. Analytical and Experimental Critical Functions and/or Characteristics Validated:

   • Deliverable: Critical functions and/or characteristics are validated through analytical models and/or laboratory experiments.
   • Relevant questions: What are the results of such and such experiment? What performance can this function achieve?

4. Component and/or Breadboard Validated in Laboratory Environment:

   • Deliverable:individual components or breadboards are tested in a laboratory.
   • Relevant question: Show me the prototype!

5. Component(s) and/or Breadboard Validated in Simulated Environment:

   • Deliverable: components or breadboards are tested in simulated environments that replicate their intended real-world use cases.
   • Relevant question: What is your MVP? What are the intended use cases?

6. System/Subsystem Model or Prototype Demonstrated in a relevant environment:

   • Deliverable: System or prototypes are demonstrated in relevant environments.
   • Relevant question: What are the initial customer's feed-back on the performance level of your product in their particular use case? What value has been demonstrated?

7. System Prototype Demonstrated in Operational Environment:

   • Deliverable: Prototypes are demonstrated in operational environments with partial operational capability only under realistic conditions.
   • Relevant questions: What are the performances of the product when operated by targeted staff (e.g. operators)

8. Actual System Completed and Qualified through Test and Demonstration:

   • Deliverable: Actual systems are completed and qualified through tests under operational conditions with all required capabilities available for use by customers when appropriate safety measures have been taken into account.
   • Relevant questions: What are the product final performances? What is the value/benefit to the user? What are the product COGS and targeted price? How is the product services, maintained?

9. Actual System Proven through Successful Mission Operations:

   • Deliverable: Actual systems have been proven through successful operations with all required capabilities available for use by customers without any significant problems observed during operations over an extended period of time (e.g., years).
   • Relevant questions: What is the yield, MTBF, customer's experience (satisfaction, deployment rate...)

TRL4 - Component and/or Breadboard Validated in Laboratory Environment

• Objective: To demonstrate feasibility with a prototype. Demonstrate ability to transfer the technology to a third party
• Required skills are:
  • Technical people to build a prototype
  • Technical people to document the technology
  • Technical and patent engineers to file IP
• Typical tools and methodologies:
  • Patent filing
  • Technical document writing
• Technical/industrial achievements are measured by:
  • Set of prototypes
  • Reports demonstrating intended applications
  • Patents, know-how... protecting the innovation (mainly technology patents)
  • Documentation that constitutes the technology transfer to the spun entity
• Economical achievements are measured by:
  • None

TRL5 - Component(s) and/or Breadboard Validated in Simulated Environment

• Objective: To identify and validate the targeted applications
• Required skills are
  • Marketing people to understand what value can be generated for each intended application. Critical thinking is required to exclusively focus on the high value opportunities hile minimising the technical reach
  • Application engineers who do understand the targeted applications and the associated industries.
• Typical tools and methodologies
  • Voice Of the Customer (VOC)
  • Product/Technical fit analysis
  • Experimentation in labs and at customers
• Technical/industrial achievements are measured by
  • generating application knowledge (application patents, white papers, protocols...). Also signatures of MoU's, Joint Development Agreements, Service contracts...
• Economical achievements are measured by
  • No product is for sale
  • Service ($)
  • Joint Development Agreement ($)
  • Watch for exclusivity requests are likely to limit the potential growth of the company. If exclusivity is conceded, must be domain specific, industry specific, time bonded.

TRL6 - System/Subsystem Model or Prototype Demonstrated in a relevant environment

• Objective:

  • Collect customer feed-back to improve the product performances, UI's, customer experience, total cost of ownership...
  • Understand, identify and confirm the business model (product sale, licensing, rental, service...)

• Required skills are

  • In addition to previous TRL
  • industrial engineers (product) to improve product industrialization product cost. Product reliability...
  • Business development, account management

• Typical tools and methodologies

  • CRM, booking analysis, revenue projection, sales dashboard

• Technical/industrial achievements are measured by

  • industrial KPI's
  • Product roadmap

• Economical achievements are measured by

  • Increased revenue
  • Increased booking
  • Initial product sales

TRL 7 - System Prototype Demonstrated in Operational Environment

• Objective:
• Required skills are
  • In addition to previous TRL
• Typical tools and methodologies
• Technical/industrial achievements are measured by
• Economical achievements are measured by

TRL 8 - Actual System Completed and Qualified through Test and Demonstration

• Objective:
• Required skills are
  • In addition to previous TRL
  • Quality management
  • User training
  • Field engineering / Support / maintenance
• Typical tools and methodologies
• Technical/industrial achievements are measured by
• Economical achievements are measured by

TRL 9 - Actual System Proven through Successful Mission Operations

• Objective:
• Required skills are
  • In addition to previous TRL
• Typical tools and methodologies
• Technical/industrial achievements are measured by
• Economical achievements are measured by