Tools for Thought Dr Rob Collins entelecheia Ltd About his talk, Rob writes: The following quotes have been noted during discussion at previous meetings of the Enterprise Systems Engineering Interest Group: “There is something missing. ..Something we don’t have in our toolset which would help us solve these problems” “What is not there are ways of thinking” “Its easy to ask for traceability, but in practice it difficult to manage linkages” During this session I will present a potential solution to these and other issues. I will describe a related set of concepts, tools and methods that can be customised and specialised to support various problems facing Systems Engineers in general, and Enterprise Systems Engineers in particular. I have been exploring these tools and techniques in my own work for some years. There is also a significant body of work describing application of these tools in fields as diverse as Enterprise Strategy, Systems Assurance, Software Design and modelling of the business environment for scenario analysis. My thesis is that there is a significant opportunity for further application of these tools in our domain of interest. In particular I will argue that these tools provide an excellent basis for: · Collaboration and Consensus building between diverse teams · Documentation of Rationale and Explanation · Alignment from Enterprise Strategy to Systems Design I plan to provide enough information and context to enable some of these concepts, tools and techniques to be deployed directly and pragmatically into Systems Engineering projects. Additionally I hope that this presentation will be a stepping-off point for further discussion and development within the Interest Group. Rob Collins Rob is a Lean Six-Sigma Black-belt with huge experience of process improvement. He is recognised as a high-energy change agent with the ability to make measurable improvements to processes, plans, procedures, tools and methods.?? He has worked across multiple industries in his roles as both internal and external consultant: Financial Services, IT and Systems Engineering, He is well known as being able to translate theory into solid, pragmatic work at the coal face. ??Rob has a rare ability to communicate complex ideas to a variety of audiences, and has presented hundreds of training sessions to industry and academia, most recently in his highly regarded “Fast Track to Systems Engineering” course at Oxford University. Rob has presented at board level and ‘pitched’ technology investment opportunities to venture capital houses. He also pitched to the Dragons on BBC’s Dragon’s Den during rehearsals for the show.?? Specialties include: Lean Six-sigma, Process improvement, Systems, IT, Business Strategy, Safety, Architecture and Architectural Frameworks: MODAF, DoDAF, TOGAF. Requirements Engineering and CMMI. The talk will be followed by demonstration by Peter Bryant of the new ESE IG wiki and a discussion about how members can use this for on-line debate on issues of interest. As usual, it is essential that those wishing to attend register beforehand - no later than close of business on Friday 29th November - to allow names to be given to Reception. (In case of difficulty, please contact Peter Brook at dashwoodbrook@aol.com) Normal 0 false false false EN-GB JA X-NONE

The Bristol Local Group is pleased to announce a repeat of last year’s successful evening of festive fun at the Aztec Hotel, Bristol. This year, we will be running a quiz to test your logic, knowledge of music, famous faces and lots of random other stuff, plus – while stocks last – there will be a festive tipple on arrival. This event will also be a great networking opportunity and a chance to get to know your BLG committee members.

Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE Agenda Introductions Review / status of actions Steve A: Plan for the SSE work and what we are doing Peter M: Risk and associated issues Laura M: Review aspects of characterisation Andrew F: Review SEBoK entries – what applies to Services, what needs changing, what is missing. John D: Group characteristics, capture stuff in Wiki, review Cambridge Services Alliance papers for relevance. Rachel F: Product Service Systems New actions AOB

Enterprise Systems Engineering and Systems of Systems Since its inception nearly a year ago, the ESE Interest Group has based its meetings around talks by guest speakers which have allowed us to explore the subject from a number of different viewpoints. For the next meeting, we intend to try something different by running a workshop in which we attempt to answer the question ‘What are the differences and overlaps between ESE and SoS’. The question is timely, since the SEBoK knowledge areas for both subjects will be undergoing revision in the next year or two and there are clear opportunities for influencing wider thinking. The workshop will be facilitated by Ivan Mactaggart, who will introduce the subject using material drawn from previous work by the ESE IG, the INCOSE SoS Working Group, SEBoK and his own research. Assuming adequate progress is achieved, we will publish the output on the ESE Wiki to stimulate further debate across the INCOSE community. Ivan Mactaggart CEng MINCOSE MIET MSOE Ivan is a Lead Systems Engineer in the Engineering function of AWE PLC. In addition to working on cross enterprise projects as part of AWE’s contribution to UK Defence, Ivan is also part of a small team working on the future development of AWE’s SE Capability. An active member of INCOSE UK, Ivan chairs the UK Advisory Board and is a member of the MBSE and Capability Working Groups and the Enterprise Systems Engineering Interest Group. Ivan is currently researching an MSc Thesis “Identifying and Mitigating the Issues that Prevent Effective Enterprise Systems Engineering”. As usual for this venue, it is essential that those wishing to attend regisgter beforehand using the on-line booking system - if possible by close of business on Friday 14th. This will avoid possibly lengthy delays at reception.

Register for the Rational® Systems and Software Engineering Symposium to learn how IBM® Rational is helping to lead the innovation agenda in smarter product development. This event will focus on IBM Rational solutions for systems and software engineering covering the core processes of requirement management, architecture and design, collaboration, change and configuration management, reporting and test and quality management. As well as delivering key insights into the latest trends and solutions for smarter product development, this event provides a great opportunity to network with other customers, discuss challenges and ideas with industry experts, and meet IBM Partners. Confirmed guest speakers who will be covering a range of topics are as follows: Key Note Speaker Alan Harding, President Elect & President of INCOSE UK Tony Sutton, Senior Rail Consultant Jeremy Dick, Integrate Duncan Bishop, Cambridge Consulting Registration URL: https://www-950.ibm.com/events/wwe/grp/grp006.nsf/v17_enrollall?openform&seminar=4EQJHVES&locale=en_GB

Agenda Introductions Working Group Proposal (from Techncal Director) ASEC 2014 Proposal (from Technical Director) Review / status of actions Plan for the SSE work and what we are doing Risk and associated issues Review aspects of characterisation Review SEBoK entries Review Cambridge Services Alliance papers for relevance. Product Service Systems New actions AOB

Once again, the Industrial Doctorate Centre at the University of Bristol invites the INCOSE UK BLG to its Knowledge Exchange Suite in Woodlands Road to see more systems engineering research presented by current EngD research engineers. There will also be opportunities to see some of the work at the Systems Centre, and to question, review, and possibly even contribute to the ongoing research activities. Staff will be available at the reception desk in the Merchant Venturers Building to direct you to the venue. Car parking is free in Woodland Road after 6pm and there is a multi-storey car park in Trenchard Street. As with all local group events the main purpose of the evening is to allow INCOSE members (and potential new members) to meet, ask questions and share their views on the chosen topics.

The British rail network evolved from 150 independent railways in 1830s into a single, large and integrated networked system by 21st century. The presenter will show how the system evolved from virtual System of Systems (SoS), through collaborative SoS to a directed SoS. In this case study, the British Rail network system has been evaluated against three basic frameworks, the US DOD classification, the UK MOD SOSA approach and the UK Department of Transport (DfT) engineering assurance framework. The analysis showed that the DoD framework was a useful descriptive approach but wasn’t predictive and the SOSA framework and DfT questions assumed a directed or acknowledged SoS. However, none of the frameworks addressed the need for clear economic benefit to systems owners for using both system and SoS. It was found that this factors, more than technical standardisation, drive the pace and depth of SoS effectiveness. Much like the artistic genre of Steampunk, the British railway network case study is a mixture of familiar SoS concepts and approaches in an unfamiliar Victorian setting. Unlike Steampunk this case study is not only amusing and entertaining, it is also educational. About the Presenter Duncan Kemp is the engineering skills development team leader in Defence Equipment and Support in MOD where he is responsible for developing 5000 engineers from graduates and apprentices up to senior fellows. Duncan is also responsible for systems engineering policy, process and development. Previous he was chief systems engineer for rail in the Department for Transport, where he initiated the work on the Rail Value for Money study and led the study's work on the asset management, supply chain management and whole system asset management. Duncan is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He was co-chair of the INCOSE Transportation Working Group from 2009 until his return to defence in 2012. To book please contact Luminita Ciocoiu Tel: 01509 635 208 Email:L.Ciocoiu@lboro.ac.uk

Challenges to the Adoption of a Systems Engineering Approach Laurence Harvilchuck, CEng MIED R&D Process Architect, Xyratex Ltd., Havant PO9 1SA Abstract: Small businesses often seem to begin with an informal ‘Just Do It’ [JDI] approach to development activities that ‘gets the job done’ in the name of agility or efficiency. There may be a failure to appreciate that the JDI approach may not scale up from the relatively flat development teams found in small organisations to the multiple levels of organisation often necessary in development. Several factors can challenge the adoption of scalable systems engineering techniques. In this talk, we will discuss the risks to adoption as well as the value that a systems engineering approach can bring to the business of development.

A terrific opportunity to see how system-thinking is being applied at the highest level - the level of the entire national network. For more details see the flyer attached. Booking is now open.

The programme has now been agreed and the brochure is available for download. You can now book your place at ASEC2013 using our online booking system.

For this event, the Bristol Local Group is pleased to welcome Graeme Peacock, the LOSA Programme System Architect and Simon Masley, Programme Manager for the LOSA Research, Experiment and Demonstration events. LOSA is an open architecture approach to Land Warfare system acquisitions and upgrades. They will provide an overview of LOSA from a programmatic, systems engineering and technology development perspectives. Please note that pre-registration is essential for this event.