Division 19 is the field-validation and technology-demonstration division of the AGL Innovation Framework. Division 18 builds and technically validates a prototype in the lab; Division 19 takes that prototype and answers the next question — does it actually work, deliver measurable value and remain technically, safely and economically viable under realistic AGL operating conditions? With a framework target of 100+ Proof-of-Concept projects, this division functions as a standardized PoC pipeline, evaluation system, evidence database and scale-up decision mechanism, not merely a collection of pilots.
The question this division answers — Does this innovation actually work, deliver measurable value and remain technically, safely and economically viable under realistic AGL operating conditions?
Division 19 sits between the engineering laboratory and technology qualification. It does not build the prototype — it takes a technically developed prototype from Division 18 and puts it through a controlled, evidence-based field demonstration before any decision to scale, modify or stop.
Establish a common methodology for taking an innovation from an engineering hypothesis to a controlled real-world demonstration, so results from different PoCs can later be compared on a like-for-like basis.
With a target of 100+ PoCs across the innovation framework, an inconsistent methodology would make results incomparable across divisions, airports and technology categories. The standard cycle keeps every PoC — however different the underlying technology — evaluated the same way.
Not every innovation should automatically proceed to field testing. PoC selection filters candidate innovations before committing pilot resources.
| Category | Definition |
|---|---|
| High Priority | Directly addresses critical AGL problems. |
| Medium Priority | Potentially valuable but requires further development. |
| Exploratory | Long-term technology investigation. |
Every PoC should have a formal PoC Project Plan before implementation begins.
Before implementation, determine whether the proposed innovation can realistically operate in the intended AGL environment.
The pilot site is critical because a poor site can produce misleading results — good site selection is a precondition for valid PoC evidence.
The pilot site should be representative enough to test the intended application, while the risk of experimentation remains appropriately controlled.
Deploy the PoC in a controlled and documented manner.
Pilot testing should determine whether the technology performs under actual operating conditions.
Where practical, compare:
This allows the pilot to demonstrate actual improvement rather than simply proving that the technology operates.
Continuously collect evidence during the pilot, rather than relying only on a single end-of-pilot assessment.
Determine whether the innovation achieved its defined technical objectives.
If the PoC objective is "Reduce maintenance interventions," the evaluation should compare:
over an appropriate evaluation period.
Safety validation should be a mandatory PoC gate where the innovation affects operationally or electrically significant AGL functions.
The PoC should not proceed to broader deployment until applicable safety requirements have been satisfactorily addressed.
A technology that works technically may still fail the PoC if its lifecycle economics are unattractive.
Potential indicators: initial investment, operating cost, maintenance cost, energy savings, replacement cost, expected lifecycle benefit.
Technical performance alone is not sufficient — the people who operate and maintain the system should provide structured feedback.
AGL engineers, AGL technicians, maintenance teams, airport engineering personnel, operations personnel, control-room personnel and other relevant stakeholders.
Failure during a PoC should be treated as engineering evidence, not simply as project failure.
This connects directly with the Failure Records, Evidence & Intelligence system.
Every PoC should have measurable success criteria before implementation. This prevents the evaluation criteria from being changed after seeing the results.
A standardized scorecard could be used to weight and compare outcomes across categories:
| Category | Example Assessment |
|---|---|
| Technical | Performance against requirements |
| Reliability | Failure/degradation performance |
| Safety | Safety requirements and risk |
| Operational | Ease of operation/maintenance |
| Energy | Energy-performance improvement |
| Cost | Lifecycle economics |
| User | User acceptance |
| Scalability | Wider deployment potential |
| Sustainability | Environmental/lifecycle benefit |
| Innovation | Strategic technology value |
The exact weighting should be established by the Innovation Governance process.
Every completed PoC should produce a formal PoC Final Report.
This is one of the most important functions of Division 19. A successful PoC should not automatically become an airport-wide deployment.
A PoC can demonstrate technical feasibility without being ready for commercialization.
Because the framework specifically targets 100+ Proof-of-Concept projects, this should be treated as a formal AGL Innovation Portfolio, rather than 100 unrelated experiments.
...and so on across the complete Innovation Framework. The 100+ target should be managed as a portfolio with category, maturity, investment, result and deployment status — not merely as a numerical target.
A future dashboard could track the following metrics, filterable by innovation division, airport, technology, TRL, investment, status, safety category, expected benefit and deployment readiness.
| Metric | Example |
|---|---|
| Total PoCs | 100+ |
| Proposed | — |
| Approved | — |
| In Development | — |
| In Field Trial | — |
| Completed | — |
| Successful | — |
| Requires Improvement | — |
| Failed / Closed | — |
| Scaled Up | — |
| Commercialized | — |
The recommended nine-stage pipeline every innovation should progress through, from initial idea to commercial deployment.
Every PoC should create a complete evidence trail. This is extremely important for the wider AGL Knowledge Hub, because every successful or unsuccessful PoC becomes reusable engineering knowledge.
To make Division 19 operational rather than theoretical, these registers should be maintained and kept current.
Twenty-five KPIs across six categories, used to track the health and output of the 100+ PoC programme.
Division 19 gives the innovation framework a clean progression from laboratory prototype through to operational deployment.
This gives the innovation framework a very clean progression:
Prototype Development & Engineering Laboratory → hands off a technically developed prototype for field validation.
Proof-of-Concept & Pilot Projects → runs the standardized PoC pipeline, evaluation and scale-up decision mechanism.
Technology Validation, Qualification & Deployment → takes a scaled PoC through qualification for controlled operational deployment.
Innovation Database & Project Intelligence → preserves the evidence trail from every successful, modified and unsuccessful PoC.
The objective is not simply to achieve 100+ PoCs — it is to create 100+ evidence-based AGL innovation experiments, where every project produces one of three valuable outcomes.
→ Scale up
→ Modify and retest
→ Stop, document and capture the lesson
No PoC should be considered wasted. A successful PoC produces a validated technology. An unsuccessful PoC produces engineering knowledge. A modified PoC produces design improvement. And a scaled PoC produces operational innovation.
Division 19 should function not merely as a collection of pilot projects, but as a standardized PoC pipeline, evaluation system, evidence database and scale-up decision mechanism — the field laboratory for the entire AGL Innovation Strategy, feeding validated technologies forward into Division 20 (Technology Validation, Qualification & Deployment) and preserving every outcome, successful or not, in the AGL Knowledge Hub.
The complete Division 19 philosophy:
Quick answers about Proof-of-Concept & Pilot Projects in the AGL Innovation Hub.
Division 19 is the field-validation and technology-demonstration division of the AGL Innovation Framework. Division 18 builds and technically validates a prototype in the lab; Division 19 takes that prototype and answers the next question — does it actually work, deliver measurable value and remain technically, safely and economically viable under realistic AGL operating conditions? It covers 17 topics (POC-01 to POC-17).
Does this innovation actually work, deliver measurable value and remain technically, safely and economically viable under realistic AGL operating conditions?
The 17 topics are PoC Methodology, PoC Selection, PoC Planning, Technical Feasibility, Pilot-Site Selection, Pilot Implementation, Pilot Testing, Pilot Monitoring, Performance Validation, Safety Validation, Cost Validation, User Feedback, Pilot Failure Analysis, PoC Success Criteria, PoC Report, Scale-Up Decision and Commercialization Decision.
Division 19 sits between the engineering laboratory and technology qualification. It does not build the prototype — it takes a technically developed prototype from Division 18 and puts it through a controlled, evidence-based field demonstration before any decision to scale, modify or stop.
Because the framework specifically targets 100+ Proof-of-Concept projects, this should be treated as a formal AGL Innovation Portfolio, rather than 100 unrelated experiments. Smart AGL; Intelligent fixtures; Smart circuits; Smart intensity control; Connected lighting; AI; AI fault detection; AI inspection; AI photometry; AI predictive maintenance; IoT; Smart sensors; Transformer monitoring; CCR monitoring; Cable-condition monitoring; Digital Engineering; Digital twin; Digital circuit model; Digital commissioning; Digital asset management; Robotics; Drone inspection; Autonomous inspection; Robotic photometry; Automated surveying; Sustainability; Energy optimization; Renewable integration; Sustainable materials; Circular components; Product Innovation; Next-generation fixture; Smart CCR; Advanced transformer; Smart sign; Photometry; Automated photometry; AI photometric analysis; Mobile photometry; Autonomous photometry; Maintenance; Failure prediction; RUL prediction; Asset-health prediction; Automated maintenance planning; Safety & Reliability; Fault-tolerant AGL; Intelligent fault detection; Resilience monitoring; Safety analytics;...and so on across the complete Innovation Framework. The 100+ target should be managed as a portfolio with category, maturity, investment, result and deployment status — not merely as a numerical target.
A future dashboard could track the following metrics, filterable by innovation division, airport, technology, TRL, investment, status, safety category, expected benefit and deployment readiness. Metric — Example; Total PoCs — 100+; Proposed; Approved; In Development; In Field Trial; Completed; Successful; Requires Improvement; Failed / Closed; Scaled Up; Commercialized.
The recommended nine-stage pipeline every innovation should progress through, from initial idea to commercial deployment. The steps or layers are: Stage 1 — Idea: Innovation identified; Stage 2 — Screening: Strategic and technical assessment; Stage 3 — Feasibility: Technical and operational feasibility; Stage 4 — PoC: Controlled demonstration; Stage 5 — Pilot: Real-world implementation; Stage 6 — Validation: Technical + safety + cost + user validation; Stage 7 — Scale-Up: Expanded deployment decision; Stage 8 — Productization: Engineering and manufacturing readiness; Stage 9 — Commercialization: Market/product deployment.
Every PoC should create a complete evidence trail. This is extremely important for the wider AGL Knowledge Hub, because every successful or unsuccessful PoC becomes reusable engineering knowledge. The steps or layers are: Problem; Baseline; Innovation; Prototype; Test; Measured Data; Performance; Safety; Cost; User Feedback; Failure/Lessons; Final Decision.
To make Division 19 operational rather than theoretical, these registers should be maintained and kept current. It includes PoC Master Register, PoC Proposal Register, PoC Selection Register, PoC Planning Register, Technical Feasibility Register, Pilot-Site Register, Pilot Implementation Register, Pilot Testing Register, Pilot Monitoring Register, Performance Validation Register, Safety Validation Register, Cost Validation Register, User Feedback Register, PoC Failure Register, PoC Success Criteria Register and PoC Final Report Register.
Twenty-five KPIs across six categories, used to track the health and output of the 100+ PoC programme. It includes Total PoCs, PoCs initiated, PoCs completed, PoCs active, PoCs by innovation category, Technical success rate, Prototype-to-PoC conversion rate, PoC-to-pilot conversion rate, Pilot validation success rate, Safety validation completion, Safety-related PoC issues, Critical risks identified and resolved, Average PoC cost, Cost-benefit ratio, Lifecycle savings identified and Investment-to-value ratio.
Division 19 gives the innovation framework a clean progression from laboratory prototype through to operational deployment. The steps or layers are: Division 18 — Prototype Development & Engineering Laboratory: "Can we build and technically validate the innovation?"; Division 19 — Proof-of-Concept & Pilot Projects: "Does it work in the real environment and create measurable value?"; Division 20 — Technology Validation, Qualification & Deployment: "Is it sufficiently mature, qualified and controlled for broader operational deployment?".
The objective is not simply to achieve 100+ PoCs — it is to create 100+ evidence-based AGL innovation experiments, where every project produces one of three valuable outcomes. 1 — Validated Innovation: → Scale up; 2 — Improvement Required: → Modify and retest; 3 — Technology Not Viable: → Stop, document and capture the lesson; Most Important Design Principle; No PoC should be considered wasted. A successful PoC produces a validated technology. An unsuccessful PoC produces engineering knowledge. A modified PoC produces design improvement. And a scaled PoC produces operational innovation; Division 19 should function not merely as a collection of pilot projects, but as a standardized PoC pipeline, evaluation system, evidence database and scale-up decision mechanism — the field laboratory for the entire AGL Innovation Strategy, feeding validated technologies forward into Division 20 (Technology Validation, Qualification & Deployment) and preserving every outcome, successful or not, in the AGL Knowledge Hub; The complete Division 19 philosophy:; SELECT → PLAN → DEMONSTRATE → MEASURE → VALIDATE → LEARN → SCALE.
Establish a common methodology for taking an innovation from an engineering hypothesis to a controlled real-world demonstration, so results from different PoCs can later be compared on a like-for-like basis.
Determine whether the innovation achieved its defined technical objectives. Validation Areas: Functional performance, Reliability, Availability, Energy performance, Photometric performance, Maintenance performance, Environmental performance, Operational performance and Integration performance.
A PoC can demonstrate technical feasibility without being ready for commercialization. Commercialization Assessment: Technical maturity, Product readiness, Manufacturing capability, Quality system, Documentation, Testing/qualification, Supply chain, Spare parts, Service support and Training.
Proof-of-concept and pilot projects start with understanding trial design, field validation, success criteria and structured pilot governance. The next step is building the technical knowledge required to evaluate, develop and run these pilots with confidence.
Develop structured knowledge across:
Understand how engineering problems become opportunities, technologies, concepts, validation activities and measurable improvements.
Understand today's AGL. Build tomorrow's capability.
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