Technology research & development decision based on Relative Advancement Degree of Difficulty in Large Project

The paper investigates the Relative Advancement Degree of Difficulty (RAD2) problem to evaluate the feasibility and effectivity of the technology. Firstly, the study reviews concept of Technology Readiness Level (TRL), Earned Value Management (EVM). Then, an improved method was developed by integrating the impact on cost, schedule and technical performance to calculate the RAD2. With the result of RAD2 and acceptable RAD2 threshold, we can easily decide whether the technology is worth further investment. Finally, an illustrative example is given to verify the developed method.