Ignoring this question can have serious implications for the future of an innovation and indeed the deployment of technology projects is often hindered or delayed because of societal considerations.
Societal Readiness Level (SRL) is a way of assessing the level of societal adaptation of, for instance, a particular social project, a technology, a product, a process, an intervention, or an innovation (whether social or technical) to be integrated into society. If the societal readiness for the social or technical solution is expected to be low, suggestions for a realistic transition towards societal adaptation are required.
Naturally, the lower the societal adaptation is, the better the plan for transition must be. We wrote about that earlier in our posts.
Developers of innovations often take too little account of societal aspects, which are crucial for a successful implementation. That is why TNO has devised SEL (Societal Embeddedness Level), a new method that goes beyond Technical Readiness Level (TRL) and assesses the level of societal embeddedness.
It is not just technical but also societal factors that determine whether an innovation is ready for implementation. Many commonly-occurring delays in implementing innovations – or abandoning them altogether – have nothing to do with technological challenges, but with societal obstacles and uncertainties that affect an innovation process.
That is why the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) has devised SEL (Societal Embeddedness Level), a new method that goes beyond Technical Readiness Level (TRL) and assesses the level of societal embeddedness.
Next to TNO also the Innovation Fund Denmark is looking into this, which is directly linked to its mandate from the Danish government to invest in technology, research and innovation that has impact, for example producing economic growth and new jobs.
It is important for any researcher, developer or innovator to think beyond their innovation, and to take into consideration what the impact on society can be, but also the impact on the value chain where the innovation can / will be deployed.