The Innovation Chain aligns well with the concept of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) originally developed by NASA and subsequently adapted by the American Petroleum Institute (API) for the oil & gas industry.
The API Recommended Practice was originally aimed at subsea production equipment. However, following its publication in 2009, the TRL definitions have been adopted more broadly and are now used as standard terminology by the oil & gas industry for all new technology qualification. The Recommended Practice is currently being updated to take this into account.
At Woodview, we have also adopted this convention. As well as ensuring consistency and common terminology, a further advantage is that each TRL can also serve as a review point and decision gate (DG) prior to proceeding with the next stage of a technology development project.