Technology Audit: Results of the Assessment of the Technological Maturity of Brazilian Innovation Institutes

The technology audit enables the assessment of the technological capability and thus the technological maturity of an RTO. It focuses on the analysis of the research activities in the R&D service areas of the RTO. This allows for a comprehensive understanding of the technologies used, the research competencies, the technologies developed, and the established technology partnerships of the RTO. Since 2017, technology audits have been conducted to evaluate the technological maturity of Brazilian SENAI innovation institutes (ISI). In the last seven years, 41 audits have been completed, providing ample opportunity to extensively test and refine the methodology. As experts 46 technology auditors from 17 different institutions participated. The extended duration and involvement of numerous experts facilitated continuous improvement of the methodology, necessary processes, and roles as well as needed materials. Two rounds of technology audits were conducted between 2017 and 2023. In the first round until the end of 2019, all 23 operational ISIs were audited, with 15 undergoing re-audits in the second round by the end of 2023. In this paper, the results of the application of the technology audit to assess the technological maturity of Brazilian Innovation Institutes is described. The objective of this evaluation of the application, which this paper undertakes, is to exemplify and verify the methodology of the technology audit. To this end, the background of 26 Brazilian SENAI innovation institutes is outlined to contextualize the use of the technology audit in these RTOs. Subsequently, aggregated results from 41 conducted technology audits are described, and concluding implications for the method are derived.