Five levels of operational continuity
The maturity model describes a progression in how an organization preserves and uses infrastructure knowledge. It is not a judgment about the people doing the work; it is a way to identify the operating conditions those people inherit.
The levels are Memory Dependent, Documented, Digitized, Field Accessible, and Operationally Continuous.
Memory to documentation
At Memory Dependent, critical understanding primarily exists with individual people. At Documented, records exist, but information may still be fragmented or difficult to retrieve.
Moving forward means making knowledge less dependent on who happens to be available and more dependable for the broader team.
Digitization to field access
At Digitized, information is electronic but may remain siloed across systems. At Field Accessible, workers can reliably retrieve current infrastructure information where work happens.
The distinction is important: electronic storage reduces paper, while field access reduces the gap between what the office knows and what the crew can use.
Operational continuity
At Operationally Continuous, location, verification, documentation, history, and institutional knowledge remain connected throughout the asset lifecycle.
The model is a conversation starter. The assessment provides an organization’s current diagnostic score without changing the definitions above.