Innovation Services are offered by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to external stakeholders to support the introduction of new technologies or innovative solutions. Stakeholders interested in receiving technical advice services prior to or outside of an actual certification process conducted in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 and its Annex I (Part 21) can apply for Innovation Services.
Innovation services are one of the tools in EASA Research and Innovation portfolio, and contribute to building for industry a regulatory framework that allows — with legal certainty — to develop new ideas and to demonstrate that what industry develops is safe.
On this site, you can find the following:
Available services
Introduction of a disruptive technology or innovative concept – CATEGORY 1
Services supporting the introduction of a disruptive technology or innovative concept (including ground and air operations), whose feasibility may need to be confirmed, and for which an adequate regulatory framework is not yet existing or not mature.
Example of a project
Assessing the feasibility of a ‘New concept of large transport airplane using liquid Hydrogen as a source of energy including for the propulsion’, or of a ‘New aircraft and concept of operation for space tourism flight, launched as balloon and returning to the ground as controllable parachute’, are not addressed in the Agency's set of technical specifications and operational regulatory framework, and thus fall in this category.
Innovation Partnership Contract (IPC)
Projects falling under CATEGORY 1 shall typically be subject to an Innovation Partnership Contract (IPC) established between the Agency and the organisation requesting the service.
Expected outcomes of an IPC
- The assessment of the feasibility of the project, be it at a technological, design, or Concept of Operation (CONOPS) level.
- The confirmation of the safety objectives — when relevant.
- A first set of cross-directorate draft policies, guidelines, and regulatory action plans that will define the early path according to which existing regulations may be modified, or new regulations be developed, to accommodate the innovative concept or disruptive technology.
Introduction of a product with embodied innovative or disruptive technologies – CATEGORY 2
Services supporting the introduction of a product with embodied innovative or disruptive technologies and/or CONOPS, which can be:
- an innovative product, whose concept is feasible and mature, but for which the adequate design and/or operational regulatory framework is not yet existing or not mature; or
- a more conventional product, for which the regulatory framework is to a broad extent mature, but for which the design organisation seeks advice on the subsequent establishment of the draft certification basis for all or part of it (typically products with an expected lead time for certification longer than the times prescribed in Part 21 for the certification of the given product).
Example of a project
Assessing the ‘Integration of a Disruptive Cockpit for Single Pilot Operation’, or an ‘Helicopter Electric/Hybrid Engine Back-up System’, derived from existing platforms but significantly challenging the certification and existing operational technical specifications and operational requirements, allowing the Agency to be far better prepared when receiving an application for certification of the retained type design.
Pre-Application Contract (PAC)
Projects falling under CATEGORY 2 shall typically be subject to a Pre-Application Contract (PAC) established between the Agency and the organisation requesting the service.
Expected outcomes of a PAC are the draft generic elements that will:
- be the foundation for the subsequent establishment by the Agency of the formal product certification basis (in the form of applicable Certification Specifications (CSs), plus optionally to be consulted and published Special Conditions (SCs) and Equivalent Safety Findings (ESFs)) and its Interpretative Material and Means of Compliance (MoC) once the application for a certificate is submitted.
- also include launching the development of the regulatory actions that are — or have previously been — identified in the regulatory action plans (in case an IPC had been completed prior to the PAC).
Technical Advice – CATEGORY 3
Services providing technical advice for a specific technical matter.
Example of a project
Assessing the compatibility of a new methodology for testing fire and smoke detection in conjunction with fire-resistant containers (ISO 19281) in a commercial air transport (CAT) environment with very specific and narrowed technical advice.
Technical Advice Contract (TAC)
Projects falling under CATEGORY 3 shall typically be subject to a Technical Advice Contract (TAC), intended for simpler and more focused technical questions.
Expected outcome of a TAC is a technical report
Good to know
A new ‘Certification Readiness Level’ scale is developed in partnership with the consortium CONCERTO and the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking. It includes nine main steps summarised as follows:
| CRL Levels | Description |
| CRL 1 | Safety regulator familiarisation with technology and Concept of Operation (CONOPS) |
| CRL 2 | Confirmation of the CONOPS assumptions and safety objectives by all stakeholders (Note: the CONOPS will steer the identification of safety objectives) |
| CRL 3 | Identification of key regulations that would be mainly affected along with an identification of those that would need to be amended/developed in priority (Note: so-called Gap Analysis) |
| CRL 4 | Identification of the main principles for technical standards and roadmap for overall necessary rulemaking and/or recommended industry standard activities associated to the novelties/specificities of the design (Note: stemming from the Gap Analysis) |
| CRL 5 | Identification of the roadmap / action plan for a comprehensive aviation framework readiness (it includes Air Traffic Management (ATM), Air Operations (Air OPS), Flight Crew Licencing (FCL), Continuing Airworthiness (CAW), as well as any other affected regulations) |
| CRL 6 | Confirmation of necessary technical knowledge and availability of the first draft of rulemaking material (through an Innovation Partnership Contract (IPC), Technical Advice Contract (TAC), Pre-Application Contract (PAC)) |
| CRL 7 | When applicable: mature draft generic elements of a certification basis, in the form of published Generic Special Conditions (SCs), Interpretative Material, or Means of Compliance (MoC) |
| CRL 8 | Product (integrating the technology) certified. Design organisation approval (DOA) granted. |
| CRL 9 | Actual system (design, operation, maintenance) proven in operational environment. |
The CRL scale will be further detailed as part of the future certification methods and means of compliance to be developed by the consortium CONCERTO. However, EASA encourages any applicant, technology developer and/or system supplier to familiarise themselves with this approach when measuring the growing level of maturity of product embedding innovative technology and/or concepts of operations.
The Innovation Services are performed by the Agency on a purely voluntary basis, i.e. as a service, and shall be regulated by a contract between the Agency and the organisation requesting that service. The contract duration thereafter can range from a few months to several years depending on the complexity of the project.
The Innovation Services do not replace or cover other processes, such as Certification Support for Validation (CSV), Outsourcing Contracts, research, etc., or where Bilateral Agreements and, where applicable, their implementing provisions require the Agency to perform technical assistance at the request of the aviation authority entitled to do so under the provisions of the Bilateral Agreement.
The contracts mentioned above are without prejudice to the responsibilities of the Agency and the applicant under Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 and its Annex I and shall explicitly specify that no Agency certificate can be granted on the sole basis of a PAC since the types of activities described by this working instruction are outside Part 21 certification.
Fees and Charges
The cost of the services provided by the Agency under IPC, PAC, or TAC shall be recovered in accordance with the provisions of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2153 of 16 December 2019 (the ‘Fees and Charges Regulation’). To date, this Regulation mandates to charge by the hours and at the rate indicated in Part II of its Annex.
How to request for Innovation Services
If you wish to submit a request for Innovation Services involving one of the contracts, please get in touch with the Applicant Relationships Section at Applicant.Services [at] easa.europa.eu (Applicant[dot]Services[at]easa[dot]europa[dot]eu) providing the following supporting documents:
- a statement of work detailing the scope and objective of the project;
- an estimation of the workload and a timeline; and
- indicate the contract (IPC, TAC, or PAC) you deem appropriate for your project.
Next steps
- The Agency will proceed to an assessment of the request.
- The Agency may reject or delay acceptance of an Innovation Service request based on the maturity of the solution and the availability of the Agency's resources. A delay will result in the request pending in the ‘Waiting room’.
- The Agency’s decision on a request is communicated to the requestor in writing.
Contact
Should you have any further questions or suggestions, please contact: Applicant.Services [at] easa.europa.eu (Applicant[dot]Services[at]easa[dot]europa[dot]eu)