Technology readiness levels (TRL) are a method of classifying technology maturity as one moves from TRL 1, where the research had been initiated to TRL 9 where the technology has been commercialised and has been in the market for some time.
RC&I has developed the table below, which provides definitions of technology maturity at each TRL in a number of different sectors. Funders are increasingly using TRLs to describe the target of the funding that they provide and also to understand the level of maturity that will be reached once a funded project has been completed.
TRLs are useful as one can classify a project within UCT and understand the steps that will need to be taken in order to bring a product or service to market.
TRLs were conceived by NASA and their current nine-level scale has gained wide acceptance. You can read more on Wikipedia.
