08 December 2018
Published also in Business Mirror
THE Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI), in partnership with the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), took on a new technology-check strategy to rank market readiness of 27 ITDI-developed technologies.
With the Philippines touted as the likely sixth country in the world after the US, Belgium, Turkey, France, and Canada to adopt the strategy, the two partner agencies called for the conduct of a Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) review.
A systematic, metric-based process and report, TRA assesses the readiness level and maturity of technologies. It covers aspects on technology; manufacturing and quality; and programmatic covering customer focus and documentation. As is, the TRA is a tool for managing technology risks, reducing company vulnerability to adoption of young technology, as well as buoying prudent use of government funds and other resources.
Leading 22 technology generators and a project-management team of 18, ITDI is currently conducting the review of 12 of its food processing, six health and wellness, six green engineering, and three nano technologies. Here, ITDI used a schematic adopted from the Air Force Research Laboratory. Developed by William Nolte of AFRL, the Excel-based Technology Readiness Level Calculator Version 2.2 was lifted from the open sources of the Defense Acquisition University.
ITDI further engaged six trade partners from EMB and 15 industry influencers selected from a short list of 229 top companies of the country to form five TRA Teams. Here, EMB rendered its expertise on determining technologies that make business sense and have business value; how best to develop and expand export trade prospects of technologies; and selecting which technology/product to trade and further develop following current market trends.
Together, the teams assessed the readiness of the 27 technologies and their Project Readiness to Transition level. The reviews were held from September 26 to 28 for the teams on health and wellness and green engineering.
Meanwhile, the teams on food innovation/processing and advanced technologies conducted the review from October 10 to 12.
Results of the project will be compiled into a 150-page compendere supported by 27 TRA full reports, expected to impact 115,748 establishments of the manufacturing sector; 119,718 accommodation and food service; and 56,466 other service establishments.
To date, ITDI may be the 10th agency in the world to use the tool after the NASA, Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Energy, and the oil and gas industry of the US; European Commission in Belgium; European Space Agency in France; Turkish Department of Defense; and the Building Canada Innovation Program.