Readiness

version: 1.1 updated: March 2026

lead-authors: Klaus Kubeczko contributors: Vitaliy Soloviy reviewers: [Names] sensitivity: low

Readiness describes the degree to which a technology, institution, organisation, or socio-technical configuration is prepared for broad application in a given context. In smart grid transitions, readiness rarely reduces to a single dimension: a technically mature battery storage system depends equally on market rules that value flexibility, grid codes that define connection requirements, and operational practices that integrate it into dispatch.

Why this matters

Readiness assessment helps decision-makers evaluate whether a technology, solution, or broader approach is prepared for deployment, scaling, or systemic integration. While Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) track engineering maturity, smart grid transitions expose the “deployment gap”—where components are technically ready but institutional or societal conditions are underdeveloped.¹⁾

Readiness is not a single value but a set of actor-specific tests. It involves moving from an emphasis on the supply-side (Does the technology work?) to one that gives equal weight to the user-side and system-wide perspective (Is it workable in this context?).

To identify bottlenecks, readiness assessments must address three fundamental ex-ante questions:

Will it work? → Technology, Institutional, and Organisational Readiness.

Will anyone want it? → Societal, Demand, and Market Readiness.

Will it contribute to long-term societal goals? → Transformative Readiness.²⁾

ISGAN definition

Readiness describes the degree to which a configuration is prepared for application across specific frameworks. These frameworks are orthogonal rather than sequential; a high score in one does not presuppose readiness in another.³⁾

Framework	Core question	Purpose / Characteristic
Technology (TRL)	How mature is the engineering?	Tracking component maturation from lab to market; supply-side focus.
Institutional (IR)	Are the rules in place?	Assessing the regulatory, organisational, and market “workability.”
Societal (SRL)	Will society accept it?	Driving innovation by societal needs, values, and inclusive processes.
System (SyR)	Is infrastructure ready?	Assessing grid standards, data architecture, and interoperability.
Organisational (ORL)	Can the entity adopt it?	Evaluating professional roles, skills, and internal governance.
Scaling	Can it grow beyond pilots?	Monitoring the implementation process and adaptive management.

Perspectives

Readiness operates as an alignment process between engineering maturation and the evolution of the socio-technical environment.

Actors

Actors differ in which dimensions of readiness constrain their decisions. For research funders, Societal Readiness is a tool to ensure R&I output avoids failure by building inclusive coalitions and understanding potential sources of opposition.⁴⁾

EU – Horizon Europe Cluster 5 \ Piloting the integration of societal readiness assessment into research programs. It requires consortia to consider values and expectations to increase trust and reduce societal opposition to technological solutions.⁵⁾

Technology

While TRL provides a structured path for hardware, it assumes “context” is a fixed state. Organisational Readiness (ORL) complements TRL by evaluating whether an organisation can survive and maintain the introduction of a specific innovation over time.⁶⁾

Australia – ARENA CRI \ ARENA uses the Commercial Readiness Index (CRI) to evaluate when a technology transitions from being technically feasible to becoming a bankable asset class capable of obtaining commercial financing. While TRL ends at demonstration, the CRI extends to full commercial bankability.⁷⁾

Institutional

Institutional Readiness (IR) involves marshalling trans-organisational participation to “ready” diverse actors. IR/TRL alignment is critical at “risk gates”; if a technology is technically mature but has low IR (e.g., missing grid codes), its utility remains zero.⁸⁾

Austria – Energie.Frei.Raum \ A regulatory sandbox framework designed to bridge the gap between technology and institutional readiness. It allows for testing tariff models and market rules under controlled experimental conditions before permanent legislation.⁹⁾

Key Terms

Term	Definition
Deployment gap	The difference between technical maturity (TRL) and readiness for deployment, arising when institutional or societal dimensions lag.
Institutional workability	The capacity of a technology to function within specific socio-technical infrastructures, including laws, routines, and actor networks.
Regulatory sandbox	A time-limited mechanism allowing innovations to operate under modified rules to generate evidence for both technical and regulatory compatibility.
Bankability	A state where a technology has demonstrated sufficient commercial readiness (CRI) to be considered low-risk for standard commercial financing.
Socio-technical assemblage	The combination of hardware, rules, user practices, and infrastructures that must co-evolve for a transition to succeed.

Distinctions and overlaps

Supply-side vs. User-side Readiness \ TRL is fundamentally a supply-side, technology-push tool concerned with signing off engineering risks. IR and SRL provide the user-side perspective, focusing on workability, valuation, and the societal infrastructure required for adoption.

Level-based vs. Stage-gate Assessment \ Some frameworks (TRL, SRL) use discrete numbers (1-9) to imply a linear progression. Others (Institutional Readiness) use stage-gate or orthogonal categories to reflect that readiness dimensions interact recursively rather than sequentially.

References

Aigner, E., et al. (2022). Kapitel IV: Technical Summary. In APCC Special Report: Strukturen Für Ein Klimafreundliches Leben. Springer Spektrum. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66497-1

ARENA. (2014). Commercial Readiness Index for Renewable Energy Sectors. Australian Renewable Energy Agency. https://arena.gov.au/assets/2014/02/Commercial-Readiness-Index.pdf

Bernstein, M. J., et al. (2022). The Societal Readiness Thinking Tool: A Practical Resource for Maturing the Societal Readiness of Research Projects. Science and Engineering Ethics, 28(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-021-00360-3

Bruno, I., et al. (2020). Technology readiness revisited: a proposal for extending the scope of impact assessment of European public services. ICEGOV 2020. https://www.google.com/search?q=https://doi.org/10.1145/3426979.3427043

European Commission. (2023). Societal readiness: Integration in Horizon Europe Cluster 5 [Concept paper]. European Commission.

Innovation Fund Denmark. (2019). Societal Readiness Levels (SRL). https://innovationsfonden.dk/sites/default/files/2019-03/societal_readiness_levels_-_srl.pdf

Kubeczko, K. (2022). Transformative Readiness - Unpacking the technological and non-technological aspects of sustainability transitions. 13th IST Conference.

Sartas, M., et al. (2020). Scaling readiness: Concepts, practices, and implementation. International Potato Center (CIP).

Veseli, A., et al. (2021). Practical necessity and legal options for introducing energy regulatory sandboxes in Austria. Utilities Policy, 73, 101296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2021.101296

Webster, A., & Gardner, J. (2019). Aligning technology and institutional readiness: The adoption of innovation. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 31(10), 1229-1241. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537325.2019.1601694

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