One of the biggest obstacles facing research organizations is how to effectively develop innovative technologies that
transition into Programs of Records (PoRs). On the other hand, Project Managers (PMs) are interested in technology
developments efforts that mitigate the technology risks of their PoRs with minimal risks to their existing
Engineering, Manufacturing, & Development or Production acquisition phases. Solving this technology transition
“valley of death� has long been elusive as technologies have been developed that are not transitioned, and PoRs
continue to have their technology gaps that are not addressed. To attempt to solve the quagmire created by this
mismatch, the Army Research Laboratory, Human Research and Engineering Directorate, Simulation and Training
Technology Center (ARL HRED STTC) partnered with the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and
Instrumentation (PEO STRI) Project Manager for Constructive Simulation (PM ConSim) to develop a new process
to bridge the technology transition chasm. The effort created a program called the Risk Reduction Test Bed (RRTB)
with a defined process for risk mitigation and streamlined the technology insertion from Research and Development
(R&D) programs. This program has quickly become a model for technology maturation and transition between these
two organizations. The initial phase of the process requires a capability and technology gap analysis that extends
into the project’s users and long-term life cycle. A concurrent activity within this phase includes building
representative test beds to develop and test the technologies. The process involves a gap analysis that determines
which are feasible and provides the greatest return on investment to the PoRs. The process then develops projects
that look at possible solutions. This paper details examples of how this process moves from gaps to solutions to
transition to the PoRs providing a model example for any organization seeking to improve their processes in this
area.
Improved Process for Bridging the Technology Transition Valley of Death
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