Compliance, i.e. adherence to guidelines, is an important topic in systems engineering. This is generally required where systems can potentially cause major damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Compliance has always been important, and is well established in many industries, such as aerospace, rail and automotive. But more and more systems that can cause harm are entering our lives. And the increasing complexity of these systems is making compliance more difficult. What can be done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Damage can be caused intentionally - when security researchers discover that a pacemaker can be manipulated<\/a> the manufacturer should take action. Sloppiness can also lead to damage. Toyota had to learn this, which resulted in a Recall of almost two million cars<\/a> ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But despite these incidents, modern systems are surprisingly reliable. We feel safe when we fly or get into our car. We feel safe because regulations ensure that products meet high safety standards and because these regulations are enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, this is sometimes botched, sometimes even deliberately. But this can have drastic consequences for business. Just think of the Toyota recall mentioned above, or the Boeing 737 MAX grounded<\/a>. Most companies recognize that compliance is essential in the long term. But compliance also creates trust for customers, increases quality and motivates employees. Not to mention the fact that a major scandal can drive a company into bankruptcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compliance is based on standards such as ISO 26262 (automotive) or DO178B\/C (aviation). These standards have been around for decades and have been responsible for countless safe products. Many of these standards are based on IEC 61508, which describes best practices for safe systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compliance is becoming more important because more and more systems are entering our lives that have the potential to cause harm. At the same time, the complexity of these systems is increasing dramatically. Ten years ago, there were no electric scooters and smoke detectors were simple devices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, new devices are invented every year that did not exist the year before - and many of them are networked and contain millions of lines of software code. This makes it increasingly difficult to work with traditional approaches. What can be done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditionally, compliance is based on clearly defined and practiced processes. This approach has proven its worth and should be continued. However, in order to cope with increasing complexity, the right tools must also be used and configured correctly. The combination of processes and tools, with the appropriate involvement of people, leads to a secure system and compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This association of processes, tools and people must comply with the following three principles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through a corresponding Traceability<\/a> every step in the development process must be traceable. Traceability must support the user and not become an annoying additional burden. Traceability must also work across tool boundaries. To achieve compliance, traceability must support audits and make linked information easily accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if many standards describe best practices, these must always be adapted for a specific organization (or project). It is dramatic how much good knowledge is still regularly lost here. This is where tools that enable the preservation of best practices through appropriate configuration can help. This is possible, for example, by making them intuitively accessible via templates, workflows or reuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to the rapid pace of change, this is a very important aspect, and it goes hand in hand with traceability. Because a Maintained traceability enables us to quickly understand the effects of changes<\/a>. If this is combined with a clean architecture, then the impact of most changes is limited, which helps to deal with the complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These three principles should serve as a compass to examine the existing processes and tools. With these principles, the most important pain points can be found and eliminated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, this is not the full picture and there are many other things to consider. However, it is a good starting point for getting a grip on compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCompliance is good for business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Compliance is becoming more important and more difficult<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3 principles for compliance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What happens next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n