How do you cope with the dynamic and evolving nature of technologies and TRLs?

2 Monitor the technology landscape

Technologies can change rapidly and unpredictably, especially in emerging and disruptive fields. New discoveries, breakthroughs, or developments can affect the technical feasibility, performance, cost, or demand of a technology. To cope with this uncertainty, you need to monitor the technology landscape regularly and systematically, using sources such as scientific publications, patents, market reports, news articles, blogs, podcasts, and social media. You also need to identify and track the key drivers, trends, and indicators that can signal the potential or actual evolution of a technology or its TRL.

3 Update the TRL assessment

Based on your monitoring and analysis of the technology landscape, you may need to update your TRL assessment periodically or whenever there is a significant change in the technology or its environment. Updating the TRL assessment can help you to reflect the current state and progress of the technology, to identify and address any gaps or issues, and to adjust your plans and expectations accordingly. Updating the TRL assessment can also help you to communicate and justify your decisions and actions to your stakeholders, such as investors, customers, partners, or regulators.

4 Adopt a flexible and agile approach

Coping with the dynamic and evolving nature of technologies and TRLs requires a flexible and agile approach that can adapt to changing conditions and opportunities. You need to be open to learning from new information, feedback, and experiences, and to incorporate them into your technology development and evaluation process. You also need to be ready to pivot, scale, or abandon your technology if the situation warrants it. A flexible and agile approach can help you to reduce uncertainty, mitigate risks, and increase value.

5 Collaborate and network with others

One of the best ways to cope with the dynamic and evolving nature of technologies and TRLs is to collaborate and network with others who are involved or interested in the same or related technologies. By sharing your knowledge, insights, challenges, and solutions, you can learn from each other, leverage each other's strengths and resources, and create synergies and opportunities. You can also benefit from different perspectives, feedback, and validation that can enhance your technology evaluation and decision making. You can collaborate and network with others through various channels, such as online platforms, communities, events, or projects.

6 Keep learning and improving

Finally, coping with the dynamic and evolving nature of technologies and TRLs requires a continuous learning and improvement mindset. You need to be curious, proactive, and willing to explore new ideas, methods, and tools that can help you to evaluate technologies more effectively and efficiently. You also need to be reflective, critical, and honest about your own assumptions, biases, and errors that can affect your technology evaluation and judgment. By keeping learning and improving, you can increase your competence and confidence in technology evaluation and cope with the dynamic and evolving nature of technologies and TRLs.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?