Innovation through Value of Information of the Interpolation Damage Detection Method: an experiment-based value quantification

Innovation plays a crucial role in shaping technological, industrial, and social progress in modern societies. The quantification of the benefits technologies offer in specific decision-making scenarios can foster their innovation process providing a guide in their development and diffusion. Decision Value Analysis provides metrics to assess the value of technologies for increasing maturity levels. Specifically, the Value of Information can be used to assess and optimize information acquirement and processing technologies. In this study, the Value of Information is applied to guide the development of a technology for damage detection based on experimental data collected from the S101 bridge in Austria. Prior, posterior, and preposterior utilities from the Bayesian Decision theory are calculated accounting for the integrity management decision scenario, maintenance actions, experimental data, and costs. The utilities are maximized to identify the optimal range of damage detection performance parameters and to provide input for the development of a business model for technology utilization.