The Service Readiness Levels (SRL), are a nine-level maturity framework initially designed to assess and guide the development of services within the Base4NFDI initiative. Developed in response to feedback from a 2025 evaluation of Base4NFDI, the SRL framework was created to address the limitations of the previously used Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), which were deemed less suitable for non-technical or service-oriented initiatives.
The SRL framework provides a structured, iterative, and user-centred approach to service development, progressing from early conceptualization to institutionalized, sustainable operation. It is designed as a self-assessment instrument: service teams assess their own maturity, supported by evidence criteria, rather than being assessed externally. Each of the nine levels is defined by a guiding question, an overview of its evidence criteria, a state to achieve, and a mapping to Base4NFDI’s funding phases for continuity. The framework is intended to make a service’s development visible and to identify gaps and next steps, not to compare or rank services against one another.
The SRL framework represents a shift from technology-focused readiness to service-centric maturity, ensuring that services are not only technically sound but also valuable, sustainable, and deeply embedded in the research ecosystem.
The nine SRLs are mapped to the Base4NFDI service development framework. They focus on a service's value proposition and the steps necessary to make a service fully operational - not just on a technical level.
| SRL | Service Stage | Base4NFDI Framework |
| 1 | Problem or opportunity identified | pre-funding |
| 2 | Value proposition formulated | pre-funding |
| 3 | Value proposition validated with target users (initial evidence) | Initialisation |
| 4 | Value proposition and service logic designed | Initialisation |
| 5 | Prototype or pilot ready for real-world testing | Initialisation |
| 6 | Pilot validated with real users (evidence of value) | Integration |
| 7 | Operational concept defined for real-world conditions | Integration |
| 8 | Full-scale implementation and evaluation | Ramp-up |
| 9 | Value proposition is confirmed to meet needs and operational is institutionalised (operation) | post-funding |
Each level is defined by:
Visit our publication on Zenodo to find out more about the Service Readiness Levels:
Arndt, S., Ganske, A., Hege, C., Manske, A., Schäfer-Neth, C., Schwier, L., Silva, K.& Zänkert, S. (2026). Service Readiness Levels (SRL): Assessing the maturity of socio-technical services in research data infrastructures. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21513098
The Service Readiness Levels play an important role in Base4NFDI's Service Support Track (SST). You can find more information about their application in the SST here.