Technology Readiness Assessments
In case you hadn’t already seen it, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a new document dated January 2020 entitled “Technology Readiness Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Evaluating the Readiness of Technology for Use in Acquisition Programs and Projects” (GAO-20-48G).
According to the GAO, “using effective management practices and processes to assess how far a technology has matured and how this has been demonstrated are fundamental to evaluating its readiness to be integrated into a system and managed for risk in the federal government’s major acquisitions”. They go on to indicate that “this TRA guide is a companion to GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide and the Schedule Assessment Guide. With (this new Guide), GAO is establishing a methodology for evaluating technology maturity based on best practices that can be used across the federal government. This is particularly salient as it relates to determining a program or project’s readiness to move past key decision points that typically coincide with major commitments of resources. Similar assessments can also be made by technology developers and program managers conducting self-assessments (referred to in this Guide as knowledge-building TRAs) during the course of a project to help them evaluate technology maturity, gauge technology development progress, and identify and manage risk.”
According to the GAO, “using effective management practices and processes to assess how far a technology has matured and how this has been demonstrated are fundamental to evaluating its readiness to be integrated into a system and managed for risk in the federal government’s major acquisitions”. They go on to indicate that “this TRA guide is a companion to GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide and the Schedule Assessment Guide. With (this new Guide), GAO is establishing a methodology for evaluating technology maturity based on best practices that can be used across the federal government. This is particularly salient as it relates to determining a program or project’s readiness to move past key decision points that typically coincide with major commitments of resources. Similar assessments can also be made by technology developers and program managers conducting self-assessments (referred to in this Guide as knowledge-building TRAs) during the course of a project to help them evaluate technology maturity, gauge technology development progress, and identify and manage risk.”