First created by NASA in the 1970s, the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) – which measures the progress of new technology from basic research to completion – was formalized in 1989. TRLs track both commercial and government product development and are a common terminology in aerospace and defense.
There has never been a similar measurement system for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to evaluate technology readiness for humans.
“Until now, the Department has not been able to quantify and communicate a human systems integration maturity metric for DoD acquisition. This has been a critical gap in the human systems integration discipline essential to delivering our programs,” said Chris DeLuca, Director of Specialty Engineering in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s Systems Engineering and Architecture.
The DoD has officially adopted a human readiness standard to ensure mission-critical systems are not only technologically advanced but ready for the people who use them.