Technology readiness level (TRL)
A 9-level scale, borrowed from aerospace, that gives objective criteria for how mature a capability is (from TRL 1, basic principles, to TRL 9, proven in production) and makes each pipeline handoff a checkable event rather than a hopeful lob over a wall.
Defined in 3 GAGE programs, which carry 3 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Certified AI Transformation Professional (CATP).
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
A nine-step readiness scale used in some engineering fields, notably aerospace and defense procurement, to mark a technology's progress from basic principles observed through to flight-proven or field-proven status. This topic's three-band established, emerging, and speculative spectrum serves the same evaluative purpose in a simpler form; recognizing the term helps you translate a supplier's or funder's TRL language into this topic's vocabulary.
A nine-point scale, originating in aerospace and defense engineering, describing how far a technology has progressed from basic research (TRL 1 to 3) through prototype demonstration (TRL 4 to 6) to full operational deployment (TRL 7 to 9); used in this topic as a second, complementary vocabulary alongside the established, emerging, and speculative epistemic tiers.
A 9-level scale, borrowed from aerospace, that gives objective criteria for how mature a capability is (from TRL 1, basic principles, to TRL 9, proven in production) and makes each pipeline handoff a checkable event rather than a hopeful lob over a wall.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first 7 topics of every program are free with a free account.
- Innovation Management and R&D Strategy · Measure, Sustain and Evolve, Certified AI Transformation Professional (CATP)
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.