Under Frascati 2.14–2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings. In the business enterprise sector, novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry.
Under Frascati 2.14–2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings. In the business enterprise sector, novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry.
Under Frascati 2.14–2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings. In the business enterprise sector, novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry.
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
A better delivery modelfor R&D qualification.
Under Frascati 2.14–2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings. In the business enterprise sector, novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry.
Under Frascati 2.14–2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings. In the business enterprise sector, novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry.
Under Frascati 2.14–2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings. In the business enterprise sector, novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry.
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Qualify more R&D, with less manual work. Get portfolio-wide visibility into your R&D incentives, with every conclusion backed by the underlying project record. No workshop-heavy qualification process each cycle.
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Follow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
R&D has its process. But the environment around it has changed.R&D has its process. But the environment around it has changed.
R&D qualification still runs the same way.R&D qualification still runs the same way.
Focus on the projects most likely to qualify.
Microsoft Teams
Ray Gilette
Can you review the Atlas documentation before Friday?
R&D Tax > General
R&D qualification workshop
Wednesday, 12 August- Microsoft Teams Meeting
Accept
Tentative
Decline
OutlookPam Poovey
Project Helios — documentation for review
Adding the phase 3 test records as discussed…
OutlookDr. Algernop Krieger
Declined: R&D qualification workshop
R&D qualification workshop — follow-up
- Wednesday, 26 August
- Microsoft Teams Meeting
AcceptTentativeDeclineRun workshops to build the context.
Write the narrative to explain why they qualify.
Focus on the projects most likely to qualify. Run workshops to build the context. Write the narrative to explain why they qualify.Focus on the projects most likely to qualify. Run workshops to build the context. Write the narrative to explain why they qualify.
It can work well.It can work well.
But audits are now stricter and more common...But audits are now stricter and more common...
... and portfolios keep growing.... and portfolios keep growing.
Can teams
confidently answer...
Can we defend each project against
the OECD Frascati criteria?Are we assessing too few projects, or too many?
Do we have the documentation to support
each project?Where is the evidence too thin to hold up?
What would we reconstruct if an audit landed tomorrow?
The process can work.It just doesn't scale.
R&D qualification is resource-heavy. Documents need to be reviewed. Technical teams lose hours to broad workshops. Consultants piece together the context one project at a time.
As the portfolio grows, the focus narrows to what's feasible to assess:
P2-05
Project Atlas
Software development
Frascati criteria
- NovelSatisfied
- CreativeSatisfied
- UncertainSatisfied
- SystematicSatisfied
- TransferableSatisfied
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
The result
Confidence in a few projects, limited visibility across the rest.
- Flagship projects receive detailed attention
- The rest receive less scrutiny and substantiation
R&D qualification is readyfor its next model.
Qualification shouldn't mean hours of workshops and a narrative doing the heavy lifting. A better model makes the workflow lighter and the defence stronger:
a convincing story to traceable evidence
flagship projects to portfolio-wide assessment
interrupted project work to targeted follow-ups
built under pressure to ready when you need it
unassessed work to more eligible work in view
A documentation-firstmodel for qualifying R&D.
Qualification shouldn't depend on who you can pull into workshops, or how well the story is written. R&D Qualifier starts from your existing documentation, assesses projects consistently against the R&D criteria and makes it easier to stand behind what you file.
Know where you stand.
See what qualifies, what needs work and where the evidence is missing before filing.
R&D QualifierAI-driven platform for R&D incentivesProject Oracle
Project Oracle is a 30-month, $7.8M initiative by DDT International's Digital Intelligence Division to build an AI-based platform intended to predict potential security threats 24 to 72 hours in advance by analyzing patterns across heterogeneous intelligence data streams, including communications metadata, financial transactions, social media activity, travel patterns, procurement records, and physical sensor networks. The work centers on three technical areas: a multi-modal temporal fusion neural architecture based on transformer models, adversarial training methods intended to maintain performance when actors attempt to evade or deceive the system, and calibrated uncertainty quantification producing probability estimates rather than binary classifications. The project is organized in three phases covering architecture design and training data curation, adversarial training and calibration, and operational testing including red team exercises, with deliverables including the architecture, a robustness framework, an uncertainty methodology, publications, and a deployable platform.
30/06/2018 - 31/12/2020
Assessment
The project jointly satisfies all five Frascati criteria: it targets an industry-level knowledge gap through original adaptations of GAN methods, embodies non-obvious conceptual design, faces explicit technological uncertainties, is planned and budgeted with staged validation, and produces codified, transferable outputs including a threat ontology and documented prototypes. It aligns with Frascati 2.68-2.71 guidance on software R&D involving genuine technological advance.
Frascati definition
Under Frascati 2.14-2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings; in the business enterprise sector novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry, and the activity must yield findings that are new to the business and not already in use in the industry. Activities consisting of copying, imitating or adapting available knowledge without expanding the state of the art are excluded. The measurement focus rests on the new knowledge generated, not on the improved product itself.
Project analysis
The documentation frames Atlas as a capability response to an internal operational gap rather than as an advance over the industry state of the art: the specifications are said to 'represent the operational requirements for DDT's field deployment profile', and the subsystems described are drawn from established technology families - 'quasi-direct-drive electric actuators at hip and knee joints with cable-driven ankle assist', 'IMU-based gait detection combined with force sensing', and 'High-density lithium-sulfur batteries supplemented by kinetic energy harvesting'. No reference is made to existing powered exoskeleton products, published performance envelopes, or prior internal projects against which the targeted advance could be benchmarked. At the same time, elements point towards potential new knowledge: the frame uses 'titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme', and the report acknowledges that 'The combined weight, endurance, and load targets are demanding and require careful system-level optimisation across all subsystems', with acoustic performance below 40dB at operational torque identified as not yet achievable with current estimates. To move this criterion to satisfied, the submission would benefit from an explicit state-of-the-art comparison showing which of the targeted parameter combinations (mass, endurance, acoustic signature, terrain adaptability) exceed what is documented as available in the industry, and a statement of the specific technological knowledge gap the project expects to close - for example in the composite frame load-path design, the gait/terrain classification approach, or the energy-harvesting contribution to the duty cycle.
Verdict explanation
The project plausibly targets knowledge that is new to the business, but the documentation does not benchmark the intended advance against the existing industry stock of knowledge, so only partial support is currently evidenced.
Follow-up questions
Which existing powered exoskeleton products or published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets, and in which parameters does the project expect to exceed them?
Submit answerTag someoneNovelty must relate to new knowledge rather than to a new product configuration. Which specific technical findings does the project expect to generate that are not currently held by DDT - for example in composite frame load-path design, terrain-adaptive control, or lithium-sulfur duty-cycle behaviour?
Submit answerTag someoneThe documentation refers to actuators being specified and 'procurement/modification'. Are the actuators, controllers and battery chemistries used off-the-shelf items integrated by known methods, or does the project require modification that adds knowledge beyond the vendors' documented performance envelopes?
Submit answerTag someoneTo distinguish R&D from adaptation of available knowledge, it would help to know the internal precedent. Has DDT or any team member previously developed load-bearing powered assistive devices (e.g. the referenced powered prosthetics work), and which technical problems in Atlas were already solved in those projects?
Submit answerTag someone
Frascati citations
Evidence from project
These specifications represent the operational requirements for DDT's field deployment profile.
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Frascati Manual
Reference 2.14 - Page 48
To be aimed at new findings (novel)
2.14 New knowledge is an expected objective of an R&D project, but it has to be adapted to different contexts. For example, research projects in universities are expected to pursue entirely new advancements in knowledge, and the same can be said for projects designed and managed by research institutes.
2.15 In the Business enterprise sector (Frascati Manual sectors are defined in Chapter 3), the potential novelty of R&D projects has to be assessed by comparison with the existing stock of knowledge in the industry. The R&D activity within the project must result in findings that are new to the business and not already in use in the industry. Excluded from R&D are activities undertaken to copy, imitate or reverse engineer as a means of gaining knowledge, as this knowledge is not novel.
2.16 Novelty could result from a project to reproduce an existing result that finds potential discrepancies. An experimental development project aimed at creating knowledge in support of the development of new concepts and ideas related to the design of new products or processes should be included in R&D. As R&D is the formal creation of knowledge, including knowledge embodied in products and processes, the measurement focus is on the new knowledge, not on the new or significantly improved products or processes resulting from the application of the knowledge. An example of R&D could be the integration of the “maintenance manual” of a very complex system (like a passenger aircraft) with additional material emerging from practical experience in ordinary maintenance and properly codified, so long as this was done as part of an R&D project. Another example is systematic testing to provide documentation of the potential use of a chemical reaction that has already been adopted in production processes (an existing technology) in order to achieve a new molecule, which has been considered an improbable outcome by the scientific literature.
Page 48
Documents
P2-05_Project_Atlas.docx
19.8 KB · 17/08/2026 14:01
Members
Member name
- Dr. Algernop Krieger
- Pam Poovey
- Ray Gilette
- Sterling Archer
Bring more R&Dpotential into view.
Assess beyond the flagship shortlist, so fewer potentially eligible projects are overlooked.
R&D QualifierAI-driven platform for R&D incentivesProject Oracle
Project Oracle is a 30-month, $7.8M initiative by DDT International's Digital Intelligence Division to build an AI-based platform intended to predict potential security threats 24 to 72 hours in advance by analyzing patterns across heterogeneous intelligence data streams, including communications metadata, financial transactions, social media activity, travel patterns, procurement records, and physical sensor networks. The work centers on three technical areas: a multi-modal temporal fusion neural architecture based on transformer models, adversarial training methods intended to maintain performance when actors attempt to evade or deceive the system, and calibrated uncertainty quantification producing probability estimates rather than binary classifications. The project is organized in three phases covering architecture design and training data curation, adversarial training and calibration, and operational testing including red team exercises, with deliverables including the architecture, a robustness framework, an uncertainty methodology, publications, and a deployable platform.
30/06/2018 - 31/12/2020
Assessment
The project jointly satisfies all five Frascati criteria: it targets an industry-level knowledge gap through original adaptations of GAN methods, embodies non-obvious conceptual design, faces explicit technological uncertainties, is planned and budgeted with staged validation, and produces codified, transferable outputs including a threat ontology and documented prototypes. It aligns with Frascati 2.68-2.71 guidance on software R&D involving genuine technological advance.
Frascati definition
Under Frascati 2.14-2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings; in the business enterprise sector novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry, and the activity must yield findings that are new to the business and not already in use in the industry. Activities consisting of copying, imitating or adapting available knowledge without expanding the state of the art are excluded. The measurement focus rests on the new knowledge generated, not on the improved product itself.
Project analysis
The documentation frames Atlas as a capability response to an internal operational gap rather than as an advance over the industry state of the art: the specifications are said to 'represent the operational requirements for DDT's field deployment profile', and the subsystems described are drawn from established technology families - 'quasi-direct-drive electric actuators at hip and knee joints with cable-driven ankle assist', 'IMU-based gait detection combined with force sensing', and 'High-density lithium-sulfur batteries supplemented by kinetic energy harvesting'. No reference is made to existing powered exoskeleton products, published performance envelopes, or prior internal projects against which the targeted advance could be benchmarked. At the same time, elements point towards potential new knowledge: the frame uses 'titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme', and the report acknowledges that 'The combined weight, endurance, and load targets are demanding and require careful system-level optimisation across all subsystems', with acoustic performance below 40dB at operational torque identified as not yet achievable with current estimates. To move this criterion to satisfied, the submission would benefit from an explicit state-of-the-art comparison showing which of the targeted parameter combinations (mass, endurance, acoustic signature, terrain adaptability) exceed what is documented as available in the industry, and a statement of the specific technological knowledge gap the project expects to close - for example in the composite frame load-path design, the gait/terrain classification approach, or the energy-harvesting contribution to the duty cycle.
Verdict explanation
The project plausibly targets knowledge that is new to the business, but the documentation does not benchmark the intended advance against the existing industry stock of knowledge, so only partial support is currently evidenced.
Follow-up questions
Which existing powered exoskeleton products or published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets, and in which parameters does the project expect to exceed them?
Submit answerTag someoneNovelty must relate to new knowledge rather than to a new product configuration. Which specific technical findings does the project expect to generate that are not currently held by DDT - for example in composite frame load-path design, terrain-adaptive control, or lithium-sulfur duty-cycle behaviour?
Submit answerTag someoneThe documentation refers to actuators being specified and 'procurement/modification'. Are the actuators, controllers and battery chemistries used off-the-shelf items integrated by known methods, or does the project require modification that adds knowledge beyond the vendors' documented performance envelopes?
Submit answerTag someoneTo distinguish R&D from adaptation of available knowledge, it would help to know the internal precedent. Has DDT or any team member previously developed load-bearing powered assistive devices (e.g. the referenced powered prosthetics work), and which technical problems in Atlas were already solved in those projects?
Submit answerTag someone
Frascati citations
Evidence from project
These specifications represent the operational requirements for DDT's field deployment profile.
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Frascati Manual
Reference 2.14 - Page 48
To be aimed at new findings (novel)
2.14 New knowledge is an expected objective of an R&D project, but it has to be adapted to different contexts. For example, research projects in universities are expected to pursue entirely new advancements in knowledge, and the same can be said for projects designed and managed by research institutes.
2.15 In the Business enterprise sector (Frascati Manual sectors are defined in Chapter 3), the potential novelty of R&D projects has to be assessed by comparison with the existing stock of knowledge in the industry. The R&D activity within the project must result in findings that are new to the business and not already in use in the industry. Excluded from R&D are activities undertaken to copy, imitate or reverse engineer as a means of gaining knowledge, as this knowledge is not novel.
2.16 Novelty could result from a project to reproduce an existing result that finds potential discrepancies. An experimental development project aimed at creating knowledge in support of the development of new concepts and ideas related to the design of new products or processes should be included in R&D. As R&D is the formal creation of knowledge, including knowledge embodied in products and processes, the measurement focus is on the new knowledge, not on the new or significantly improved products or processes resulting from the application of the knowledge. An example of R&D could be the integration of the “maintenance manual” of a very complex system (like a passenger aircraft) with additional material emerging from practical experience in ordinary maintenance and properly codified, so long as this was done as part of an R&D project. Another example is systematic testing to provide documentation of the potential use of a chemical reaction that has already been adopted in production processes (an existing technology) in order to achieve a new molecule, which has been considered an improbable outcome by the scientific literature.
Page 48
Documents
P2-05_Project_Atlas.docx
19.8 KB · 17/08/2026 14:01
Members
Member name
- Dr. Algernop Krieger
- Pam Poovey
- Ray Gilette
- Sterling Archer
Give technical teamstheir time back.
Ask only what the documentation cannot answer, through targeted questions they can respond to when it suits them.
R&D QualifierAI-driven platform for R&D incentivesProject Oracle
Project Oracle is a 30-month, $7.8M initiative by DDT International's Digital Intelligence Division to build an AI-based platform intended to predict potential security threats 24 to 72 hours in advance by analyzing patterns across heterogeneous intelligence data streams, including communications metadata, financial transactions, social media activity, travel patterns, procurement records, and physical sensor networks. The work centers on three technical areas: a multi-modal temporal fusion neural architecture based on transformer models, adversarial training methods intended to maintain performance when actors attempt to evade or deceive the system, and calibrated uncertainty quantification producing probability estimates rather than binary classifications. The project is organized in three phases covering architecture design and training data curation, adversarial training and calibration, and operational testing including red team exercises, with deliverables including the architecture, a robustness framework, an uncertainty methodology, publications, and a deployable platform.
30/06/2018 - 31/12/2020
Assessment
The project jointly satisfies all five Frascati criteria: it targets an industry-level knowledge gap through original adaptations of GAN methods, embodies non-obvious conceptual design, faces explicit technological uncertainties, is planned and budgeted with staged validation, and produces codified, transferable outputs including a threat ontology and documented prototypes. It aligns with Frascati 2.68-2.71 guidance on software R&D involving genuine technological advance.
Frascati definition
Under Frascati 2.14-2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings; in the business enterprise sector novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry, and the activity must yield findings that are new to the business and not already in use in the industry. Activities consisting of copying, imitating or adapting available knowledge without expanding the state of the art are excluded. The measurement focus rests on the new knowledge generated, not on the improved product itself.
Project analysis
The documentation frames Atlas as a capability response to an internal operational gap rather than as an advance over the industry state of the art: the specifications are said to 'represent the operational requirements for DDT's field deployment profile', and the subsystems described are drawn from established technology families - 'quasi-direct-drive electric actuators at hip and knee joints with cable-driven ankle assist', 'IMU-based gait detection combined with force sensing', and 'High-density lithium-sulfur batteries supplemented by kinetic energy harvesting'. No reference is made to existing powered exoskeleton products, published performance envelopes, or prior internal projects against which the targeted advance could be benchmarked. At the same time, elements point towards potential new knowledge: the frame uses 'titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme', and the report acknowledges that 'The combined weight, endurance, and load targets are demanding and require careful system-level optimisation across all subsystems', with acoustic performance below 40dB at operational torque identified as not yet achievable with current estimates. To move this criterion to satisfied, the submission would benefit from an explicit state-of-the-art comparison showing which of the targeted parameter combinations (mass, endurance, acoustic signature, terrain adaptability) exceed what is documented as available in the industry, and a statement of the specific technological knowledge gap the project expects to close - for example in the composite frame load-path design, the gait/terrain classification approach, or the energy-harvesting contribution to the duty cycle.
Verdict explanation
The project plausibly targets knowledge that is new to the business, but the documentation does not benchmark the intended advance against the existing industry stock of knowledge, so only partial support is currently evidenced.
Follow-up questions
Which existing powered exoskeleton products or published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets, and in which parameters does the project expect to exceed them?
Submit answerTag someoneNovelty must relate to new knowledge rather than to a new product configuration. Which specific technical findings does the project expect to generate that are not currently held by DDT - for example in composite frame load-path design, terrain-adaptive control, or lithium-sulfur duty-cycle behaviour?
Submit answerTag someoneThe documentation refers to actuators being specified and 'procurement/modification'. Are the actuators, controllers and battery chemistries used off-the-shelf items integrated by known methods, or does the project require modification that adds knowledge beyond the vendors' documented performance envelopes?
Submit answerTag someoneTo distinguish R&D from adaptation of available knowledge, it would help to know the internal precedent. Has DDT or any team member previously developed load-bearing powered assistive devices (e.g. the referenced powered prosthetics work), and which technical problems in Atlas were already solved in those projects?
Submit answerTag someone
Frascati citations
Evidence from project
These specifications represent the operational requirements for DDT's field deployment profile.
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Frascati Manual
Reference 2.14 - Page 48
To be aimed at new findings (novel)
2.14 New knowledge is an expected objective of an R&D project, but it has to be adapted to different contexts. For example, research projects in universities are expected to pursue entirely new advancements in knowledge, and the same can be said for projects designed and managed by research institutes.
2.15 In the Business enterprise sector (Frascati Manual sectors are defined in Chapter 3), the potential novelty of R&D projects has to be assessed by comparison with the existing stock of knowledge in the industry. The R&D activity within the project must result in findings that are new to the business and not already in use in the industry. Excluded from R&D are activities undertaken to copy, imitate or reverse engineer as a means of gaining knowledge, as this knowledge is not novel.
2.16 Novelty could result from a project to reproduce an existing result that finds potential discrepancies. An experimental development project aimed at creating knowledge in support of the development of new concepts and ideas related to the design of new products or processes should be included in R&D. As R&D is the formal creation of knowledge, including knowledge embodied in products and processes, the measurement focus is on the new knowledge, not on the new or significantly improved products or processes resulting from the application of the knowledge. An example of R&D could be the integration of the “maintenance manual” of a very complex system (like a passenger aircraft) with additional material emerging from practical experience in ordinary maintenance and properly codified, so long as this was done as part of an R&D project. Another example is systematic testing to provide documentation of the potential use of a chemical reaction that has already been adopted in production processes (an existing technology) in order to achieve a new molecule, which has been considered an improbable outcome by the scientific literature.
Page 48
Documents
P2-05_Project_Atlas.docx
19.8 KB · 17/08/2026 14:01
Members
Member name
- Dr. Algernop Krieger
- Pam Poovey
- Ray Gilette
- Sterling Archer
Build the defence upfront.
Link each conclusion to evidence from the start, so when an audit lands, you are ready, not trailing behind.
R&D QualifierAI-driven platform for R&D incentivesProject Oracle
Project Oracle is a 30-month, $7.8M initiative by DDT International's Digital Intelligence Division to build an AI-based platform intended to predict potential security threats 24 to 72 hours in advance by analyzing patterns across heterogeneous intelligence data streams, including communications metadata, financial transactions, social media activity, travel patterns, procurement records, and physical sensor networks. The work centers on three technical areas: a multi-modal temporal fusion neural architecture based on transformer models, adversarial training methods intended to maintain performance when actors attempt to evade or deceive the system, and calibrated uncertainty quantification producing probability estimates rather than binary classifications. The project is organized in three phases covering architecture design and training data curation, adversarial training and calibration, and operational testing including red team exercises, with deliverables including the architecture, a robustness framework, an uncertainty methodology, publications, and a deployable platform.
30/06/2018 - 31/12/2020
Assessment
The project jointly satisfies all five Frascati criteria: it targets an industry-level knowledge gap through original adaptations of GAN methods, embodies non-obvious conceptual design, faces explicit technological uncertainties, is planned and budgeted with staged validation, and produces codified, transferable outputs including a threat ontology and documented prototypes. It aligns with Frascati 2.68-2.71 guidance on software R&D involving genuine technological advance.
Frascati definition
Under Frascati 2.14-2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings; in the business enterprise sector novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry, and the activity must yield findings that are new to the business and not already in use in the industry. Activities consisting of copying, imitating or adapting available knowledge without expanding the state of the art are excluded. The measurement focus rests on the new knowledge generated, not on the improved product itself.
Project analysis
The documentation frames Atlas as a capability response to an internal operational gap rather than as an advance over the industry state of the art: the specifications are said to 'represent the operational requirements for DDT's field deployment profile', and the subsystems described are drawn from established technology families - 'quasi-direct-drive electric actuators at hip and knee joints with cable-driven ankle assist', 'IMU-based gait detection combined with force sensing', and 'High-density lithium-sulfur batteries supplemented by kinetic energy harvesting'. No reference is made to existing powered exoskeleton products, published performance envelopes, or prior internal projects against which the targeted advance could be benchmarked. At the same time, elements point towards potential new knowledge: the frame uses 'titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme', and the report acknowledges that 'The combined weight, endurance, and load targets are demanding and require careful system-level optimisation across all subsystems', with acoustic performance below 40dB at operational torque identified as not yet achievable with current estimates. To move this criterion to satisfied, the submission would benefit from an explicit state-of-the-art comparison showing which of the targeted parameter combinations (mass, endurance, acoustic signature, terrain adaptability) exceed what is documented as available in the industry, and a statement of the specific technological knowledge gap the project expects to close - for example in the composite frame load-path design, the gait/terrain classification approach, or the energy-harvesting contribution to the duty cycle.
Verdict explanation
The project plausibly targets knowledge that is new to the business, but the documentation does not benchmark the intended advance against the existing industry stock of knowledge, so only partial support is currently evidenced.
Follow-up questions
Which existing powered exoskeleton products or published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets, and in which parameters does the project expect to exceed them?
Submit answerTag someoneNovelty must relate to new knowledge rather than to a new product configuration. Which specific technical findings does the project expect to generate that are not currently held by DDT - for example in composite frame load-path design, terrain-adaptive control, or lithium-sulfur duty-cycle behaviour?
Submit answerTag someoneThe documentation refers to actuators being specified and 'procurement/modification'. Are the actuators, controllers and battery chemistries used off-the-shelf items integrated by known methods, or does the project require modification that adds knowledge beyond the vendors' documented performance envelopes?
Submit answerTag someoneTo distinguish R&D from adaptation of available knowledge, it would help to know the internal precedent. Has DDT or any team member previously developed load-bearing powered assistive devices (e.g. the referenced powered prosthetics work), and which technical problems in Atlas were already solved in those projects?
Submit answerTag someone
Frascati citations
Evidence from project
These specifications represent the operational requirements for DDT's field deployment profile.
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
Frascati Manual
Reference 2.14 - Page 48
To be aimed at new findings (novel)
2.14 New knowledge is an expected objective of an R&D project, but it has to be adapted to different contexts. For example, research projects in universities are expected to pursue entirely new advancements in knowledge, and the same can be said for projects designed and managed by research institutes.
2.15 In the Business enterprise sector (Frascati Manual sectors are defined in Chapter 3), the potential novelty of R&D projects has to be assessed by comparison with the existing stock of knowledge in the industry. The R&D activity within the project must result in findings that are new to the business and not already in use in the industry. Excluded from R&D are activities undertaken to copy, imitate or reverse engineer as a means of gaining knowledge, as this knowledge is not novel.
2.16 Novelty could result from a project to reproduce an existing result that finds potential discrepancies. An experimental development project aimed at creating knowledge in support of the development of new concepts and ideas related to the design of new products or processes should be included in R&D. As R&D is the formal creation of knowledge, including knowledge embodied in products and processes, the measurement focus is on the new knowledge, not on the new or significantly improved products or processes resulting from the application of the knowledge. An example of R&D could be the integration of the “maintenance manual” of a very complex system (like a passenger aircraft) with additional material emerging from practical experience in ordinary maintenance and properly codified, so long as this was done as part of an R&D project. Another example is systematic testing to provide documentation of the potential use of a chemical reaction that has already been adopted in production processes (an existing technology) in order to achieve a new molecule, which has been considered an improbable outcome by the scientific literature.
Page 48
Documents
P2-05_Project_Atlas.docx
19.8 KB · 17/08/2026 14:01
Members
Member name
- Dr. Algernop Krieger
- Pam Poovey
- Ray Gilette
- Sterling Archer
How it works
Documents in. Defence file out.
- 01DocumentsP2-05_Project_Atlas.docx19.8 KB · 17/08/2026 14:01Oracle_project_report.pdf2.4 MB · 17/08/2026 09:12Phase3_test_records.xlsx88.1 KB · 14/08/2026 16:45
Upload existing documentation.
Project reports, records, existing files.
- 02NovelCreativeUncertainSystematicTransferableFrascati definitionPartially satisfied
Under Frascati 2.14–2.16, an R&D project must aim at new findings. In the business enterprise sector, novelty is assessed against the existing stock of knowledge in the industry.
Test against Frascati.
Every project gets a systematic assessment.
- 03R&DSoftware developmentUncertainSatisfiedTransferablePartially satisfied
The load-bearing frame uses titanium-carbon fibre composite tubes from DDT's materials programme.
See the verdict and the evidence.
R&D / Potentially R&D / Not R&D.
- 04Follow-up
Which published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Submit answerTag someoneFollow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Submit answerTag someoneFollow-upWhich published performance envelopes were reviewed when setting the Atlas targets?
Submit answerTag someoneFill gaps.
Targeted follow-ups to the right expert.
- 05ProjectProgramOrganisationNovelSatisfiedCreativeSatisfiedSystematicPartially satisfiedFrascati 2.142.172.22Export defence file
Export the defence file.
Generate evidence-linked reporting at project, program or organisation level.
PwC's R&D tax expertise,applied consistently at portfolio scale.
Built for sensitive portfolios,strict controls, and audit-grade handling.
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Data handling
Each client gets a separate database. Only authorised users can access it. Every assessment is recorded step by step.
Data policy
PwC keeps your data for as long as your engagement and PwC's records policy require. Production data isn't used in development or testing environments.
Questions we get asked first.
No. The starting point changes: documentation comes first, broad interviews don't. Advisors stay focused on what requires judgment: borderline projects, audit defence, and the conversations that need them. The groundwork gets done before they're needed.
Each project is assessed against the five Frascati criteria, the standard tax authorities use to evaluate R&D eligibility. R&D Qualifier reads your existing documentation, tests each project against those criteria, and flags what holds up and where the evidence needs strengthening.
Tax authorities make their own assessment. But we're seeing reviews become more evidence-driven, and starting to see AI used to scan supporting documentation. R&D Qualifier is designed to produce output that meets that bar: each conclusion is linked to the relevant criterion and supporting evidence, with gaps clearly identified.
The workflow applies the same criteria-based structure across every project. Where the record is thin or a call is borderline, it's flagged, so judgment is concentrated where it's actually needed.
That's part of the point: gaps get surfaced early, and technical teams are only pulled in for targeted follow-ups where information is missing.
No. It should reduce it, by replacing broad interviews with targeted questions only when information is missing.
Whatever constitutes your project record today: technical documentation, project write-ups, prior reports, and supporting materials. You don't need to rewrite everything upfront; the assessment starts from what's already there.
A cross-referenced defence file for each project, with every conclusion linked to the evidence behind it and gaps named explicitly. Plus a portfolio-wide view of what's defensible, what needs strengthening, and where there may be eligible value you haven't claimed yet.
R&D Qualifier uses your documentation to run the assessment. It's encrypted in transit and at rest, and access is limited to authorised users with role-based permissions. Your organisation gets a dedicated database, and data is retained in line with your engagement and PwC's records policy.
Switch to a better R&D qualification process.
No more trailing behind. Review more projects from the documentation you already have. Bring technical teams in only where something is missing. Build the defence into your process as you go.