Eighth Software Certification Consortium Meeting
Software Certification Consortium Meeting #8
Theoretical Basis for System and Software Engineering
Practices and Certification
November 09-10, 2011 | Markham, Ontario, Canada
Conference Archives: https://cps-vo.org/group/scc/meetings
The eighth Software Certification Consortium meeting was held as an open, public workshop at CASCON, the annual Canadian software engineering conference sponsored by IBM. The conference was held just outside Toronto.
The workshop objective was to address a specific work item in SCC's agenda: the "Theoretical Basis for System and Software Engineering Practices and Certification". The workshop consisted of presentations of submitted papers specifically addressing this topic, with extensive discussion, and the use of breakout sessions to address issues identified as requiring focusing and refinement - see the draft agenda below.
PROGRAM AGENDA
| WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2011 | |
| 0830 - 0900 | Welcome and Introductions |
| 0900 - 0930 | Software Safety Gerard Holzmann - NASA / JPL |
| 0930 - 1000 | Keeping Things "As Simple As Possible, but Not Simpler" David Parnas - Middle Road Software |
| 1000 - 1015 | Coffee |
| 1015 - 1100 | Discussion 1 - What are the key system engineering principles necessary to achieve safety? How are software elements of a system different? ( failure mechanisms, benefits of diversity, quantitative reliability) |
| 1100 - 1130 | Robustness Assurance for Systems at Scale John Goodenough - SEI |
| 1130 - 1215 | Discussion 2 - What are the challenges in certifying COTS? (ability to certify a black box, value of operating history, competencies of practitioners) |
| 1215 - 1315 | Lunch |
| 1315 - 1345 | Assurance Cases and Software - Is There Any Evidence? Mats Heimdahl - University of Minnesota |
| 1345 - 1415 | Jens Weber - University of Victoria |
| 1415 - 1500 | Discussion 3 - What kind of hazards can be introduced during software design that were not explicit in the requirements, and how can they be identified? |
| 1500 - 1515 | Coffee |
| 1515 - 1645 | Breakout 1 - What are the outstanding research questions related to gaining confidence in a system's specification of critical properties? |
| 1645 - 1715 | Summary from Breakout 1 |
| THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011 | |
| 0830 - 0900 | What Goes Wrong With Software Development And Why? John Knight - University of Virginia |
| 0900 - 0945 | Discussion 4 - What evidence should be produced to support the certification of critical systems containing software? |
| 0945 - 1015 | Automotive System Safety Engineering Practitioner Knowledge Joe D'Ambrosio - GM |
| 1015 - 1030 | Coffee |
| 1030 - 1115 | Discussion 5 - What body of knowledge do practitioners need to know in order to develop critical systems containing software? What should the role of licensed professional engineers be? |
| 1115 - 1145 | DI&C systems safety demonstration framework research planned Sushil Birla - US NRC |
| 1145 - 1245 | Lunch |
| 1245 - 1315 | Thoughts on Assurance Cases Paul Jones - US FDA |
| 1315 - 1400 | Discussion 6 - What criteria should be used for the evaluation of an assurance case that can be effectively applied by a 3rd party certifier? |
| 1400 - 1545 | Breakout 2 - What are the outstanding research questions related to gaining confidence in a system's implementation? (including coffee) |
| 1545 - 1615 | Summary from Breakout 2 |
| 1615 - 1630 | Wrapup |
NOTE: McMaster University's Software Certification Centre will be holding a workshop on "Progress on Certification of Critical Software Intensive Systems" on Friday November 11 at the same conference facility as the SCC workshop. Information on the McMaster workshop can be found at: http://www.mcscert.ca/index.php/public-project-workshop-1 . This workshop is designed to highlight work that has been undertaken in a major Ontario funded project on software certification. We would be delighted to have you join us at the Public Workshop as well.
CASCON
Information about the CASCON conference can be found at https://www-927.ibm.com/ibm/cas/cascon/
There is no charge for attending the conference, and lunches, breakfasts and coffees/teas are provided. The conference takes place Mon-Thu, Nov 7-10 and the SCC workshop will be on Wed-Thu, Nov 9-10. There is a special rate for the hotel available after registering.