A maturity assessment framework for security technologies

Having awareness of the maturity of a system is an invaluable reference to understand how ready this system is to be deployed on a numeric scale. Given the challenge posed by the limited uptake of the outcomes of EU-funded security R&I, having the capacity to characterise the progress achieved by security systems under development basing on readiness characteristics, and not only from a purely technological perspective, can be a powerful tool to identify areas that require further work or to provide input to strategic investment decision making processes.

Scales using metrics such as the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) are widely used and have been adapted to different domains. Other scales have been developed, including Integration Readiness Level (IRL), Commercialisation Readiness Level (CRL), Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRL), Security, Privacy and Ethics Readiness Level (SPRL) or Societal Readiness Level (SRL), among others. These may have been defined for different purposes and often focusing on non-technological aspects of technology development. However, problems emerge when readiness levels proliferate and are used without a commonly agreed definition, when they are not duly adapted to the specific context of application[[“The TRL Scale as a Research & Innovation Policy Tool”, European Association of Research and Technology Associations (EARTO), 30 April 2014]] or when they are implemented without the support of adequate tools and methods to carry out a reliable assessment.

Applicants are invited to submit proposals for the development of a maturity assessment framework that serves as a reference for the development of civil security technology-based solutions. The framework should be cross-disciplinary and combine different readiness scales in an aggregated manner in order to be able to deliver holistic and quantitative maturity assessments agglutinating different perspectives (e.g. technological, systemic, societal, etc.). The scales proposed should be robust, repeatable and agile, so they can be trusted, replicated, and applied to different types of security solutions in the different domains covered by this Work Programme.

The scales proposed have to rely as much as possible in existing and recognised scales and methods that show the appropriate quality features to ensure their reliability. Such scales need to be tailored and adapted to the security context as required in a justified manner.[[Proposals exploring Societal Readiness Level scales should avoid overlapping and possibly cooperate with actions funded under the topic HORIZON-CL3-2021-SSRI-01-05]]

Based on the maturity assessment framework proposed, the project is expected to deliver tools that allow the guided and/or the self-assessment of the maturity of concrete security solutions being developed under the frame of EU-funded security research work programmes. These tools will allow an open access to those actors interested in assessing the readiness levels of concrete technologies, preferably through a web-based environment that allows for a high degree of automation. It is of particular relevance to allow open access to the online tools to actors participating in EU-funded security research projects so they are able to assess the progress in the maturation of their technologies throughout the project.

An extensive validation process for the developed assessment tools should be conducted as part of the project. This validation should be conducted by performing maturity assessments on different solutions recently delivered or currently under development in H2020 or Horizon Europe projects. The results of the maturity assessment should be made available to the projects collaborating with the validation for their own use and in support to their activities. The results are expected to be made available to other EC-chaired or funded initiatives for which this information can be of added value, such as the Networks of Practitioners projects funded under H2020 Secure Societies work programmes, to the Knowledge Networks for Security Research & Innovation funded under the Horizon Europe Cluster 3 Work Programme, to the Community of Users for Secure, Safe and Resilient Societies (future CERIS –Community of European Research and Innovation for Security) or to other security research and innovation working groups set-up by European Commission Agencies.

The project should explore the options, also from a business perspective, for the exploitation of the results beyond the project lifetime, including the setting up of formal mechanisms for the certification of readiness of security solutions by entrusted bodies.

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.

The project should have a maximum estimated duration of 3 years.