Software Engineering Technology Transition

Needs and S&T Strategies

Breakout Group 4

Participants

Ed Colbert, USC CSE Steve Cross, SEI Cyrus Fakharzadeh, USC CSE Ernesto Gonzalez, USAF Caroline Graettinger, SEI Cordell Green, Kestrel Institute Mark Maybury, MITRE Michael Saboe, USA Rich Turner, OSD Luqi, NPS Jack Ferguson, OSD Helen Gigley, NCO

Working Group Objectives

Assess and prioritize needs in the area Prioritize candidate DoD S&T initiatives, characterize:  

– Missing S&T -- Technology Transition– Good Ideas -- for Technology Transition– DoD Outcome Without Missing S&T– DoD Outcome With Missing S&T

Identify candidate DoD S&T Grand Challenge Problems to serve as motivators and testbeds

Identify near-term (1-3 years to payoff), mid-term (3-5 years to payoff), and long-term (over 5 years to payoff) S&T strategies to meet the prioritized needs in the area

DoD Outcome (Before)

ATDs – Another Time (Wasting) Demo

DoD Outcome (After)

ATDs– Accelerated Technology Deployment – Adopters Teaming (with) Developers

SWE Technology Transition – Top Inhibitors to Success

21 distinct inhibitors from brainstorm Categories

– Technology to be transitioned– Champions– Creators (senders), Adopters (receivers), Consumers– Organizational network– Technology maturation and transition infrastructure– Technology maturation and transition process– Investment strategy

SWE Technology - Definition

Methods, practices, processes, products, and tools used in the engineering of software.

SWE Technology Transition - Definition

Technology transition is the process of creating or maturing a technology, introducing it to its intended adopters, and facilitating its acceptance and use.

SWE Technology Transition – What Does Success Look Like?

Success from perspective of– Consumer– Adopter– Creator

Transition explicitly supported Transition happens

– Better, faster, cheaper– Scalable, affordable, repeatable, incrementally, …

Key challenges

Creating an emphasis and support for technology transition in SWE S&T programs

Understanding that broad adoption is the transition goal

Transitioning what is known now about successful technology transition to S&T managers and the research community

Improving the current technology transition body of knowledge

Adopting SWE Technology – Dimensions of Change

Magnitude of Tech ChangeTime needed to change

small largeYears months weeks

procedures

skills

culture

strategy

structure

Level of Learning Required

“Boehm Matrix from the Workshop” (BMW)

    1-3 years

Inhibitor Categories

Inhibitor StrategicFocus Area

Exit Criteria What to Do Who Does

Champions No SW Tech Transition Mission Champion

Acquire champions 

DDR&E, ASD(C3I), DARPA,AT&LJLCLabs

Acquire champions

OSD SW Intensive Systems

    Organization memory

  Brief the champion staff

SW Collaborators

  Senior Mgmt needs to understand & appreciate TX Model

    Education media blitz

 

  Low Priority for SW Tech Transition

       

Inhibitor Category - Adoptors 1-3 years

Inhibitor StrategicFocus Area

What to Do

risk-averseoverworked/overwhelmed

Education  

  Give “Mature” Technology

 

  Supporting tools  

  Effective change agents

 

Adoption requires change, no incentive to accept/manage the risk

   

Impedance mismatch between the technology & adopters

Reduce the gap between Maturity of tech & readiness level

Increase Maturity of technology

    Shadow (redundant) tech

    Educate adopter

    Develop pipeline of change agents within DoD(farm club)

Inhibitor Categories

Inhibitor

Infrastructure Impedance mismatch between the technology & adopters

  Need shared open data sets military representative of class of problems the military is working

  Insufficient Tool Support

  Lack of test bed environments

Inhibitor Category - Maturation & Transition Process

  1-3 years

Inhibitor StrategicFocus Area

Exit Criteria What to Do Who Does

Demos try to do too much at once

Concurrent use of maturation & transition methods from start

Define M&T Process

Prove technology works in incremental, experimental fashion involving appropriate stakeholders at every step

ATD Program Manager

Demo seen as end ATD’s are part of evolution acquisition strategy

Updated DoD Acquisition Process

Develop policy, strategy & funding

AT&L

Not sufficient metrics for the tech you want to transfer, improvements in quality. Few head-to-head comparisons of technologies

Application of scientific method to show tech is mature & ready for transition

Database of technologies & their process, products qualities

CeBASE Project USC/UMD

    TRLs in CeBase Database

Use of TRL’s for SW & SWE Technologies

S&T Mgrs

  Model-Based Transition

     

    1-3 years

Inhibitor Categories

Inhibitor StrategicFocus Area

Exit Criteria What to Do Who Does

Organizational Networks

Lack of Continuity from requirements to basic research to deployment

Define Technology transition processes Education

Established process for transferring technology Informed stakeholders Training available

Establish DoD IPT to define process Host joint workshops to present process Define training requirements (Add to required curricula)

SEI OSD/SIS OSD/SIS & functional IPTs

Technologists (Creator, Sender)

Reality Averse Impedance Mismatch

Increase technologist understanding of users and adopters *See adopters

Pilot exchange program

Encourage cross training and details for technologists  

DoD SISSG

VISION

STRATEGY DEFINING PROGRAM FOR SOFTWARE S&T AND Tx PROGRAM AND BUDGETING ESTABLISHING OWNERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES ASSESSING AND SUSTAINING CAPACITY

    1-3 years

Inhibitor Categories

Inhibitor StrategicFocus Area

Exit Criteria What to Do Who Does

Strategy Lack of shared vision Establish ownership of a shared vision and of transition mission

Shared vision, publish long-term investment software technology strategy

Establish JLC & functional working group

OSD, ALT- ASD C3I, DDR&E, DARPA & JLC (Software Systems Intensive Lead)

  “Process” (e.g. “how to” tech) technology transition follow a different model than SW product technology

Establish a next generation software engineering technology program similar to hardware man tech program

Funded program element in FYDP

OSD & Services identify lines memo direction  

OSD Software Intensive Systems  

Communicate with congressional liaison officers

Service S&T managers

Align industry partners

NDIA

    1-3 years

Inhibitor Categories

Inhibitor StrategicFocus Area

Exit Criteria What to Do Who Does

Strategy Who pays for the tech transition? Not evident in 5000

Establish/Increase program elements and ownershiP

Owners and PEs established

Establish PEs 

Services’ Labs

Cross-cutting programs are first to go

Ensure S&T managers & PMs take responsibility for Software Technology Transition

All managers produce software technology transition & coordination plans

Memo directing PMs to develop software transition technology plans

OSD & Service acquisition executives

  Need for balanced portfolio between basic research, applied, transition, infrastructure        Funding the receptor & researcher        Lack of continuity from basic research to use

Establish a robust persistent software technology transition capacity;        Champions        Creators        Memory        Network,        Advocates        Processes       

Infrastructure

Published gap analysis with actionable tasks

Assess the existing software technology transition and required capability

JLC working group

MAKE PIE BIGGER (CONGRESS, DoD)

INCREASE SIZE OF PIE SLICE.DoD/SERVICES FOR TxINFRASTRUCTURE

SOFTWARE S&T

SW Tx IN S&T and PM PROGRAMSVIA PLANS

DOD, Industry and Academia

Organizations