Application of the Competence Guidelines to Software Engineering

1. DIRC Workshop on Software Quality and the Legal System 13 February 2004 Application of the Competence Guidelines to Software Engineering Rod May Tel: +44 (0)1427 667118 email: rodmay@iee.org

2. DIRC Workshop on Software Quality and the Legal System 13 February 2004 Agenda Standards for personnel competence The Competency Guidelines Application to Software Engineering Benefits Application of the Competence Guidelines to Software Engineering Rod May Tel: +44 (0)1427 667118 email: rodmay@iee.org

3. Personnel competency Technical requirements Safety management Strategy to obtain functional safety IEC 61508 requirements

4. IEC61508 Requirements for Personal Competence Management of functional safety - Part 1 Section 6 Requirement 6.2 ……. the following should be considered: 6.2.1 h the procedures for ensuring that applicable parties involved in any of the overall, E/E/PES or software safety lifecycle activities are competent to carry out the activities for which they are accountable Note 1 - Annex B provides guidelines on the competence requirements of those involved in any overall, E/E/PES or software safety lifecycle activity IEC 61508 requirements

5. IEC61508 Part 1 Annex B (informative) B.1 Objective This annex outlines considerations for ensuring that persons who have responsibilities for any overall, E/E/PES or software lifecycle activity are competent to discharge those responsibilities. B.2 General Considerations All persons involved in any overall, E/E/PES or software safety lifecycle activity, including management activities, should have the appropriate training, technical knowledge, experience and qualifications relevant to the specific duties they have to perform. The training, experience and qualifications of all persons involved in any overall, E/E/PES or software safety lifecycle activity, including management activities, should be assessed in relation to the particular application. IEC 61508 requirements

6. Principles Phase 1 – Establish requirements for CMS A1 Identify activities and assess risks A2 Select standards Phase 2 – Design CMS A3 Develop procedures and methods A4 Decide how to meet the standards A5 Establish requirements for training, development and assessment A6 Maintain managers’ competencies Phase 3 – Implement CMS A7 Select and recruit staff A8 Train, develop and assess staff A9 Control activities undertaken Phase 4 – Maintain competence A10 Monitor and reassess staff A11 Update the competence of individuals A12 Manage sub-standard performance A13 Keep records Phase 5 – Audit and review CMS A14 Verify and audit CMS A15 Review and feed back Railway Safety Principles and Guidance

7. Operation of scheme Standards of competence Guidance provided Management system Personal assessment Self assessment Team competencies Professional development Licensing & accreditation All with respect to safety Corporate management Project assurance Hazard & risk analysis Requirements specification Architectural design Hardware realisation Software realisation Human factors Procurement Maintenance/modification Independent assessment Competency model IEE/BCS/HSE Guidelines

8. Standard of best practice Job Role Context Summary Function Level Technical skills Knowledge Behavioural skills Understanding Individual competencies Task-related Function-related Assessment Guidance Supervised Expert Practitioner Provide the context of the assessment Competency Assessment Make a claim for a level of competence Select an overall level and provide a summary For the function as a whole For each individual competency Provide evidence to support the claim Identify actions to improve competence Competency Model IEE/BCS/HSE Guidelines

9. 1 Select a Function against which an assessment of competency is to be made • Software Engineering: • Requirements engineering • System design • Software design • Software construction • Software build, integrate and test • Software maintenance Application to software engineering

10. For the Function selected 2 Enter context of assessment a company’s Web-based Application to software engineering

11. 3 Select an individual competency to assess for the Function • Software construction: • Interpret software requirements • Software high-level design • Modelling and prototyping • Designing for software integrity • Assess and manage risk • Compliance with software design standards • Software design verification and validation • Software design documentation • Application, commercial and market awareness • Software design issues • Software design strategies • Software design techniques and tools • Creative/conceptualise • Persuasiveness • Effective communications Application to software engineering

12. Using the description and guidance provided: 4a Claim a level; and 4b Reference the evidence Repeat for all competencies Application to software engineering

13. Viewing the histogram of competencies assessment 5a Claim overall level 5b Provide summary 5c Plan actions Application to software engineering

14. Improved staff competence Improved staff deployment Reduced staff turnover More effective staff recruitment More effective use of staff development budget Compliance with professional development requirements Improved and reduced maintenance of job descriptions More effective annual appraisals Compliance with ISO9001:2000 Provision of evidence of competence Lower insurance premiums Increased sales Company benefits from adoption of Competency Management System Summary

15. Two quotations 1 The only rule I have in management is to ensure that I have good people - really good people - and that I grow good people, and that I provide an environment where good people can produce. Knowledge is the raw material of software development, and it is software engineers who transform knowledge into software products … Improving technology and process alone is not enough in the most knowledge-intense industry in history. Improving a software organisation requires continual improvement of its people and of the conditions that empower their performance. 1 Source: Curtis, Hefley and Miller, People Capability Maturity Model, SEI Carnegie Mellon University, 1995 Summary