Systems Engineering and Social System Engineering for NetworkEnabled Capability

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Systems Engineering and Social System
Engineering for Network-Enabled Capability

• Hillary Sillitto
• Head of Integration Authority, UK MOD

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Presentation outline

• What we are trying to do is not difficult but
  it is complicated.
• But if we make the problem more complicated than
  it needs to be, solving it becomes very difficult
  indeed.
• NEC - The wicked problem we are trying to solve
• Using Architecture Frameworks specifically
  MODAF
• Social, cultural and measurement issues

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The big picture for NEC
Coalition partners Host nations
Shared situation awareness Agile mission groups
Evolving over time
Fixed
Deployed
Mobile
GII
GCN
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We need to consider several architectural layers
Social
Create shared mental models to change and align
values, behaviours and actions across the
enterprise
Process
End to end business processes delivering the
desired political, strategic and operational
effects
Information
The right information available to the right
people at the right time - understood and trusted
Technical
Compatible, available, evolvable and
reconfigurable assets to support the enterprise
(Adapted slightly from Engineering NEC - Basic
Principles - The Integration Authority - June
2006)
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Different templates are broadly equivalent
SPIT (IA, UK)
Social
Process
Information
Technical
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The real picture for NEC the UK NEC Reference
Architecture
Physical context
msec
sec
min
hrs
days
Characteristic time-constant
Social Personnel, Organisation
Process Doctrine, Training
Information Information
Technical Equipment, Logistics, Infrastructure
Lines of Development in
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Making effective use of bandwidth is key
2 MBytes
Compression 40,0001
50 Bytes
Its a Spitfire
At Edinburgh Airport
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Second critical issue Different kinds of picture
Accuracy
Engagement
Rate of data throughput per track
TEWA
Tac picture
Surveillance volume, tracks
Recognised Operational picture
In this regime we still need to be able to
resolve ambiguities to determine whether two
tracks are the same object
Timeliness
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Using Architectural Frameworks specifically
MODAF
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MODAF Architectural Viewpoints
Reduce perceived complexity through separation of
concerns

• Operational viewpoint
• your partners view of which rooms are needed
  and how s/he will use each room
• (visions of family meals, parties, nice smelling
  food, nasty smelling teenagers)
• System viewpoint -
• Architects drawings for planning application
• size and relationship between rooms, doors and
  windows
• functions allocated to rooms
• how functions support operational tasks
• key subsystems that support system functions
  (e.g. cooker)
• services required to enable key functions (power,
  ventilation)
• Technical Standards viewpoint -
• building regulations
• rules to follow when designing and building
  things so they will work together
• You can use the same viewpoints at different
  levels
• system of systems, system, complex subsystem
• Each has several views providing different
  kinds of information

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MODAF is part of an integrated interoperability
assurance process
C
A
D
M
I
D
Experimentation
Test reference
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Social, cultural and measurement issues
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Issues for designers and architects

• What are the Requirements?
• Benefits of NEC are to a large extent the
  emergent properties created by networking
• these are difficult to anticipate (hence emphasis
  on experimentation)
• and difficult to put a cash value on
• Some simple functions (chat, text messaging) are
  unexpectedly popular, and usurp the function of
  more complex designed functions
• they just work need to have a better
  understanding of how our brains are wired and
  what this means for the man-machine function
  split
• How do we specify and design a
  non-deterministic complex system
• complexity theory applies to system of system
  behaviour
• Parkinsons law applies to bandwidth!
• we used to assure dependability by minimising
  system-to-system interconnects to avoid
  unintended coupling. Now we want to connect them
  all together!
• the ways we are accustomed to use to predict
  performance and ensure design margin do not work
  in complex systems of systems.
• Network most likely to fail when under stress
  loading how to ensure and assure resilience and
  robustness?
• Technology cycles faster than procurement cycles
• Individual customers are unwise to dictate
  standards but they are essential for
  interoperability!
• Can you judge the technology risk right and
  will your customer agree?

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Perception is reality or is it?
Create shared mental models to change and align
values, behaviours and actions across the
enterprise
Social Cognitive
End to end business processes delivering
political, strategic and operational effect
Process
Present object to decision maker in context
Selection, errors, delays, omissions
The right information available to the right
people at the right time - understood and trusted
Information
Effect in physical domain
Compatible, available, evolvable and
reconfigurable assets to support the enterprise
Technical
Physical signals
Physical object
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Appropriate metrics
Create shared mental models to change and align
values, behaviours and actions across the
enterprise
Social Cognitive
Purpose, plans and intent
Effect in cognitive domain
Decision
Prior Understanding Selection, errors, delays,
omissions
Perceived reality
End to end business processes delivering
political, strategic and operational effect
Process
Present object to decision maker in context
Selection, errors, delays, omissions
The right information available to the right
people at the right time - understood and trusted
Information
Representation of object
Representation of context
Effect in physical domain
Physical action
Technical
Select and Interpret data errors, delays,
omissions
Select and Interpret data errors, delays,
omissions
Stored 3rd party data
Real time sensor data
Physical signals
Capture and process signals errors, delays,
omissions
Physical object
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My issue Standards and Open Architectures

• DIS asks for open architectures.
• But open architectures are a solution. What is
  the problem?
• MODs goal is flexibility and agility
• Operational?
• - Commercial?
• - Technical?
• Which interfaces and boundaries do we need to be
  open, and why?
• And how much is it worth?
• Governments dont have a good track record with
  mandating standards.
• How will we work with industry to create a
  win-win environment where the right standards are
  identified, defined, agreed, and used effectively?