Extending SPICE for safety focused systems engineering process assessment

Abstract

Issues in systems engineering will increasingly affect our everyday life. One approach to address the increasing concerns in systems and software engineering are process assessments. Systems engineering approach is more relevant because it covers both software and systems viewpoints. This paper discusses systems and software engineering related process assessments in safety-critical domains, including nuclear, automotive and medical devices. We analyse the key stakeholder requirements related to a safety-critical domain, using nuclear domain as an example. We propose that the SPICE framework should be extended to take into account also safety demonstration and conformity with requirements use cases. Balance with product evaluation is essential to achieve this.