Lesson 3.5 — Self-Guided Exercise: Mini-SOTA Analysis
Self-Guided Exercise: Mini-SOTA Analysis
Choose one innovation procurement scenario and complete the downloadable handout independently. By the end, you will have a structured mini-SOTA research plan, an initial maturity assessment and a justified recommendation for the most appropriate procurement route.
Exercise purpose
This exercise brings together the Section 3 methods in a format designed for an individual online learner. You will define what needs to be investigated, distinguish core technology maturity from integration maturity, plan the search, identify the market gap and supplier landscape, and recommend PPI, PCP or an Innovation Partnership. You are not expected to complete live market research during the lesson; focus on designing a credible analysis and identifying the evidence still required.
What you will practise
- Translate an innovation challenge into a focused research plan
- Estimate and justify core technology TRL and integration/customisation TRL separately
- Select appropriate patent, scientific, industry, expert and EU-project sources
- Describe what exists, what is missing and what development remains
- Recommend a procurement route and communicate the reasoning clearly
How the online exercise works
Select the scenario most relevant to your work or the one you find most challenging. Download the handout before starting. In the “Group Name” field, enter your name or “Individual learner”, then record the selected scenario.
Step-by-step workflow — approximately 35 minutes
Work through the steps in order and record concise answers in the corresponding numbered section of the handout. Where evidence is unavailable, state a reasonable assumption, mark it clearly and explain how you would verify it after the lesson.
Choose one scenario
Requirements: Sub-second detection, emergency-shutdown integration and pattern recognition.
Challenge: Existing systems cover smaller areas and lack prediction.
Requirements: Predict failures 48–72 hours ahead and integrate with 15 legacy systems.
Challenge: No training data for this specific equipment type.
Requirements: Peak shaving, grid stability and renewable-energy integration.
Challenge: Commercial batteries do not meet the scale and efficiency requirements.
Requirements: Protect 10 PB, use post-quantum algorithms and support international data sharing.
Challenge: Standards are emerging and few commercial solutions exist.
Write your final conclusion
Use the following six prompts to write a concise final summary in your own words. This replaces the group presentation used in the facilitated version of the exercise.
- Challenge: the operational need and the requirement that drives innovation.
- Maturity: core technology TRL versus integration/customisation TRL.
- Gap: what exists, what is missing and what development remains.
- Market: priority supplier types and the most useful search sources.
- Recommendation: PPI, PCP or Innovation Partnership, with reasoning.
- Next step: three risks or unknowns and the evidence needed to resolve them.
Key terms
| Core technology TRL | Maturity of the underlying technology under conditions already demonstrated. |
|---|---|
| Integration TRL | Maturity of the complete solution when adapted and integrated into the buyer’s specific environment. |
| Gap analysis | Comparison of available capabilities with missing functions and remaining development. |
| Market maturity | The extent to which capable suppliers and solutions exist at the maturity required by the use case. |
Completion check
Before completing the lesson, confirm that every handout section is filled in, assumptions are clearly labelled, the two TRLs are distinguished, the recommendation follows from the gap analysis, and exactly three priority risks or unknowns are stated.
Lesson resources: S3-L5 — Mini-SOTA Exercise presentation and Mini-SOTA Exercise Handout.
