A Generalized Technology Readiness Level Scale for Measuring Technology Maturity

Development and Pilot Validation Study

Abstract

What is new?

Trends in university technology transfer practices in the United States of America and proposed modifications to U.S. public policy underscore the need for validated instruments to assess the maturity of technologies.  The NASA TRL scale appears to be the most widely adopted instrument for measuring technology maturity but anecdotal testimony from university technology transfer practitioners and evidence in the literature indicate that the NASA TRL scale poses challenges in its use, is likely subject to idiosyncratic variation, and has not been thoroughly validated.

What was the approach?

Content analysis was used to develop a generalized TRL (GTRL) scale to demonstrate that the NASA TRL scale can be modified and generalized in a way that increases its practicality and minimizes idiosyncratic variation both within and across contexts.  A pilot study to assess its content validity, intra-rater reliability, and inter-rater reliability was performed to determine whether standard approaches for validating measurement instruments can be applied to validate the GTRL scale.

What is the academic impact?

The findings of the study suggest that the GTRL scale has promise as a potentially more useful measurement instrument for technology transfer practitioners than the traditional NASA TRL scale, demonstrate the viability of a methodology for evaluating its validity and reliability, highlight areas where the GTRL scale can be improved, and reveal potential methodological issues that researchers may encounter when conducting validity and reliability studies of the GTRL scale as well as strategies for coping with those challenges.

What is the wider impact?

The modifications and generalizations of the NASA TRL scale, as represented in the GTRL scale, have the potential to improve university technology transfer practices.  With a valid and reliable measurement instrument, university technology transfer practitioners will be able to better determine how much a given technology needs to be matured and provide better guidance to university researchers.  This will also enable practitioners to better allocate scarce resources.