“Emerging maritime technologies require qualification processes that extend beyond technical maturity; Human Readiness Levels (HRLs) provide a structured approach that supports safer operations while reducing unnecessary cost and rework.”
That is an excerpt from the latest industry-leading research from ABS, Beyond Technology Readiness: Applying Human Readiness Levels in Maritime Systems, which examines existing gaps in maritime human‑system integration and demonstrates how HRLs can be integrated into current maritime qualification processes.
“Technical maturity alone is not sufficient to achieve operational safety. While existing frameworks offer valuable insight into technical maturity, they do not account for the human element that ultimately interacts with, operates, maintains and makes decisions with the technology. In this whitepaper, ABS is providing guidance for owners and vendors to incorporate human factors early so new technologies can be introduced more safely, effectively and with greater confidence,” said Michael Kei, ABS Vice President, Technology.
Technology readiness levels focus on hardware and software performance, while HRLs evaluate: operator roles and responsibilities; cognitive workload and decision authority; interface usability and interpretability; alarm strategy effectiveness; training effectiveness; procedural completeness; and organizational readiness.
The ABS whitepaper builds on existing guidance from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and provides HRL maritime application examples for remote inspections, autonomous operations, AI decision support tools and augmented reality devices.
Recent research on maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) has highlighted emerging risks associated with supervisory control, automation trust, alarm overload and degraded situational awareness. ABS identifies ways to integrate HRLs into maritime qualification processes such as the ABS New Technology Qualification program, SMART notations and verification and validation guides.
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