To meet the definition of R&D, there need to be uncertainties which cannot be readily resolved by a “competent professional”.

Who is a “competent professional”?

Someone that:

• is knowledgeable about the pertinent scientific and tech principles involved
• is cognisant of the existing state of knowledge
• has a proven track record and experience in the field

This means that at the outset of the project the company would need to obtain an opinion from a competent professional about:

• what the advance in science/tech being sought is
• why its an advance in the overall knowledge/capacity in a field of science/tech

So to do this, they’d need to research the current state of knowledge at the start of the project.

A competent person could potentially be in-house staff such as the CTO or lead developer, or could also be an outsourced developer/engineer/scientist.