The Autumn Assembly  2003 Programme

International Standard ISO/IEC 15288.

In this paper, the Editor of ISO/IEC 15288 looks at the international technical, commercial and political drivers that formed this International Standard. It considers the models used to structure the shape of the standard and their goal of building a profiled set of system-driven business processes. 

It also considers the consequences of, and obligations on, an International Standard that will sit at a level of strategic importance in an organization.  ISO/IEC 15288 has the potential to influence not just an organization’s practices, but also its policies and, its organizational responsibility structure. 

Those who can - use ISO /IEC 15288   - Jon Holt, Brass Bullet Ltd

This presentation takes a realistic look at the application and implications of ISO/IEC 15288 on the UK education system.

The standard itself is compared to the current UK education system from Key Stages 1 through 4 (primary & secondary schools), to further and higher education (colleges, NVQs, universities, degrees, Masters).  The paper takes a system-oriented and fresh look at a perennial social challenge.

It reflects on whether we, systems engineers who are adopting 15288, have to go against the concepts and ideas that are currently being taught to the next generation of engineers?

Successive steps in the evolution of business process-based, engineering improvement actions have brought us to CMMi.. 

Is CMMi the saviour in the fight by technical organisations to overcome the growing threat of increased product and service complexity, failings and costs? Or is it itself a dangerous leviathan. There is still much to learn before we can answer these questions with confidence.  Nevertheless, international experience with CMMi is growing and this paper takes stock of the progress made, the advantages gained and some traps to avoid.  It looks at the role of capability maturity models, the way they are influencing organisations and the practicalities of their effective use.

 INCOSE UK AGM and lunch

Parallel Sessions

• Session 2A Introduction to System Dynamics

• Session 2B Case Studies -Defence / Transport /

 2 A  How can Systems  Engineering use System Dynamics? - Co-chairs Mike Kennedy and David Exelby (both from the System Dynamics Society)

System Dynamics is a methodology that has been successfully applied to a range of systems engineering issues.  This session will provide an introduction to the approach followed by several presentations ona range of real life applications. 

Steve McIntosh (BWA Consulting) and Dbembe Williams (South Bank University) will describe system dynamic’s role in requirements engineering.  Steve Curram (HVR Consulting Services) will illustrate the use of system dynamics simulation modelling to achieve a systemic view of a complex rail engineering project balancing workload planning, system performance, payments and penalties.

2B  SE Skills in Different Application Domains - Chair Peter Lister

There are many barriers to successful implantation of SE into a particular environment.  These include :

• Differences in terminology for engineering functions and processes

• Differences in the technology baseline and the degree of innovation applied

• The development and application of standards

• Differences in the procurement and regulatory environments

• The attitude to SE of other engineering disciplines in the domain

This session will highlight some of these issues by reference to case studies from Defence and Railway Infrastructure domains.  This will illustrate that SE skills are transferable, but there is a different emphasis on which skills are most important.  The session will include the following presentations and should also contribute to the debate on Core Competencies.

• Peter Lister, Siemens Transportation Systems - A short introduction to the session, its objectives and presentations.

• Mark Irving, Atkins Rail - Introducing a Systems Engineering approach to a Railway Infrastructure project.

• Paul Davies, Thales Defence -  Systems Engineering in Defence projects.

• Francis Thom, Artisan Software Tools - A Comparison of the Evolving Standards for the Aerospace Industry’s Advanced Avionic Architectures (ASAAC) and the Railway Industry’s Euro-Interlocking.

Duncan Kemp, from the MOD procurement Executive, and Paul Davies the INCOSE UK Chapter President, feed back on the efforts of an INCOSE led Working Group on recommendations for improvement to the MOD’s Smart Acquisition process based on an SE approach.

• 3A  Hard vs Soft systems
• 3B Core Competencies.

Both will break for refreshments at 1030

3A Hard vs Soft Systems - Chair Prof. Philip John

This session considers the role of Hard Systems and Soft Systems approaches in dealing with modern systems challenges.  The presentations will outline the fundamentals of each approach and the sorts of problems to which they have been applied.  The nature of modern systems, their development and through-life use is discussed and related to the application of the Hard- and Soft- systems approaches.  Amongst the issues addressed are the implications on the systems approach of recent trends such as :

• a Capability-, or Effects-, based approach,
• Systems of Systems
• Autonomous Systems
• Highly integrated systems
• The use of Synthetic Environments in system developments
• Rapid technology developments

Approaches for tackling issues such as these will be discussed and related to the methods, tools, skills and competencies that are needed by systems engineers in the twenty-first century.  The future relationships between various “systems-oriented” disciplines will be considered and means of achieving such relationships will be discussed.

3B     0900 Core Competencies - What Does This Mean To You?  - Chair Doug Cowper

The session aims to:

• provide a briefing on the Certification aspects going on in the US and the results of the pilot test taken by volunteers at the Washington Symposium Col. David Wright, MoD DLO,
• explore the key functional roles of a systems engineer from the SEBOK hand book Doug Cowper, UCL,
• explore the functional partitioning of these roles with an organisation and mapping this against for example, the top 5 issues identified by the transport industry at the last London Regional Group meeting Prof. Alan Smith, UCL 
• and finally to look at the issues of implementing this partitioning within a company in terms of shaping an organisation. Dick Allen-Shalles, Thales.

This session will raise questions and issues about the measurement and evaluation of the systems that are developed. Typical examples of the themes include

• How do we as systems engineers measure and evaluate the systems that we design in the light of the requirement?
• In a period of increasing complexity and systems of systems perspectives, how do we determine and value the emergent properties of the system, how do we aggregate individual component performance into balanced system effectiveness and capability
• In the military world, the emphasis upon the provision of capability –as delivered through multiple components –brings the need for methods that allow the integration of technical and non-technical attributes: how are these to be addressed  / developed? What do other industries do in this field?
• Further, militarily we are grappling with Network enabled Capability –how do we design, develop and measure our systems in this world –what performance / capability is in the network and how should we describe our components and their interactions?
• How are trade studies effected and system balance achieved across the components of an individual system and then across the multiple systems within a broader capability view.
• Does the provision of capability in the round, require new systems engineering tools and techniques, new project management processes, and if so how are these to be aligned and brought into the mainstream project world?

Although software is an element of the system that must also be measured this is not about software –it is about physical systems and platforms involving the integration of multiple components ( which are systems in their own right) and performance attributes.

This session will break for refreshments and networking at 14.30 and resume at 15.15.