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A proof of concept ( POC or PoC), also known as proof of principle, is an realization of a certain idea or method in order to demonstrate its feasibility or viability. A proof of concept is usually small and may or may not be complete, but aims to demonstrate in principle that the concept has practical potential without needing to fully develop it.
A proof of value ( PoV) is sometimes used along proof of concept, and differs by focusing more on demonstrating the potential customer use case and value, and is usually less in-depth than a proof of concept. Proof of Concept (PoC) vs. Proof of Value (PoV): What Do They Mean for Your Business? - Blog | Tenable®
One definition of the term "proof of concept" was by Bruce Carsten in the context of a "proof-of-concept prototype" in his magazine column "Carsten's Corner" (1989):
The column also provided definitions for the related but distinct terms 'breadboard' (a term used since 1940"bread, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2020. Web. 15 April 2020.), 'prototype', 'engineering prototype', and 'brassboard'.
Pixar sometimes creates short animated films that use a difficult or untested technique. Their short film Geri's Game used techniques for animation of cloth and of human facial expressions later used in Toy Story 2. Similarly, Pixar created several short films as proofs of concept for new techniques for water motion, sea anemone tentacles, and a slowly appearing whale in preparation for the production of Finding Nemo.
In these cases, the proof of concept may mean the use of specialized to ensure that the vendor makes a best-possible effort.
The US General Services Administration has a checklist for defining an Agile software proof of concept, which includes clear definitions of the problem, pre-POC input required, and output criteria (including success criteria).
The key benefits of the proof of concept in software development are:
A 'steel thread' is technical proof of concept that touches all of the technologies in a solution. By contrast, a 'proof of technology' aims to determine the solution to some technical problem (such as how two systems might integrate) or to demonstrate that a given configuration can achieve a certain throughput. No business users need be involved in a proof of technology.
A pilot project refers to an initial roll-out of a system into production, targeting a limited scope of the intended final solution. The scope may be limited by the number of users who can access the system, the business processes affected, the business partners involved, or other restrictions as appropriate to the domain. The purpose of a pilot project is to test, often in a production environment.
are designed as proof of concept for the development of . They can demonstrate graphical or gameplay capabilities crucial for particular games.
The underlying principle is related to the use of biomarkers as surrogate endpoints in early clinical trials.See for example the introductory discussion on pages 3 to 9 of: In early development it is not practical to directly measure that a drug is effective in treating the desired disease, and a surrogate endpoint is used to guide whether or not it is appropriate to proceed with further testing. For example, although it cannot be determined early that a new antibiotic cures patients with pneumonia, early indicators would include that the drug is effective in killing bacteria in laboratory tests, or that it reduces temperature in infected patients—such a drug would merit further testing to determine the appropriate dose and duration of treatment. A new anti-hypertension drug could be shown to reduce blood pressure, indicating that it would be useful to conduct more extensive testing of long-term treatment in the expectation of showing reductions in stroke (cerebrovascular accident) or heart attack (myocardial infarction). Surrogate endpoints are often based on laboratory blood tests or imaging investigations like X-ray or CT scan.
Phase I is typically conducted with a small number of healthy volunteers who are given single doses or short courses of treatment (e.g., up to 2 weeks). Studies in this phase aim to show that the new drug has some of the desired clinical activity (e.g., that an experimental anti-hypertensive drug actually has some effect on reducing blood pressure), that it can be tolerated when given to humans, and to give guidance as to dose levels that are worthy of further study. Other Phase I studies aim to investigate how the new drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolised and excreted (ADME studies).
Phase IIA is typically conducted in up to 100 patients with the disease of interest. Studies in this Phase aim to show that the new drug has a useful amount of the desired clinical activity (e.g., that an experimental anti-hypertensive drug reduces blood pressure by a useful amount), that it can be tolerated when given to humans in the longer term, and to investigate which dose levels might be most suitable for eventual marketing.
A decision is made at this point as to whether to progress the drug into later development, or if it should be dropped. If the drug continues, it will progress into later stage clinical studies, termed Phase IIB and Phase III.
Phase III studies involve larger numbers of patients—commonly multicenter trials—treated at doses and durations representative of marketed use, and in randomised comparison to placebo and/or existing active drugs. They aim to show convincing, statistically significant evidence of efficacy and to give a better assessment of safety than is possible in smaller, short-term studies.
A decision is made at this point as to whether the drug is effective and safe, and if so an application is made to regulatory authorities (such as the US Food and Drug Administration FDA and the European Medicines Agency) for the drug to receive permission to be marketed for use outside of clinical trials.
Clinical trials can continue after marketing authorization has been received, for example, to better delineate safety, to determine appropriate use alongside other drugs or to investigate additional uses.
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