Latest News

Invitation to comment on Draft IEC Technical Specification addressing Formal Methods

SCSC members have the opportunity to contribute to the standards making process by responding to Invitation to Review selected drafts of IEC standards, Technical Specifications (TS) and Technical Reports (TR). This opportunity is only available to SCSC members, who must be logged in to access the draft document. The first of these is IEC TS 61508-3-2 ED1: Requirements and Guidance in the use of mathematical and logical techniques for establishing exact properties of software and its documentation. Deadline for Comments: 10/11/2019. The instructions for comment can be found at: scsc.uk/rp142.2

Steering Group Chair

I am very pleased to confirm that Roger Rivett's appointment as Steering Group Chair has been ratified by the meeting of the Steering Group today. Jane Fenn is also appointed as Roger's deputy.

Data Safety Seminar

Data can directly cause systems to behave anomalously (e.g. sensor data in the Boeing 737 MAX) or it can cause humans to take inappropriate actions leading to harm. On November 14th in London the event "Data Safety Evolution" is an opportunity to hear about the issues data can cause in safety systems and look at developments in the area. It will be useful for safety engineers and safety managers, across any sector that uses data in a safety context, i.e. most of us! Full details at: scsc.uk/e651

SCSC Survey

Please take a moment to complete this short survey on the Safety-Critical Systems Club to help us move forward. The survey has been designed with all systems safety professionals in mind and you don't need to be a member of the club to do it.

There is a prize draw for all those who complete the survey and leave contact details.
Prizes include a free day at SSS'20, free attendance at a 1-day SCSC event of your choosing (e.g. seminar, tutorial) and free annual memberships.

New Newsletter Editor

I am really pleased to announce that Paul Hampton has agreed to take over from Katrina Attwood as Newsletter Editor.

Paul has lots of experience in publishing, web sites and of course is a long-term supporter of the SCSC and many-time presenter at SSS.

Please contact Paul if you would like to publish an article in the newsletter at paul.hampton@scsc.uk

Tutorial on Safety Assurance of Autonomy and Machine Learning

This 1-day tutorial was held on September 26th 2019 in London. It included speakers from the AAIP at the University of York and from industry. It considered the assurance of systems that employ Autonomy and Machine Learning; critically important for future air, sea and road vehicles. Full details at: https://scsc.uk/e624

Learning from Accident Investigations

This seminar on June 13th 2019 in London considered what can be learnt from formal accident investigations, including the process, people and the detailed accident reports that are produced in many sectors. Full information, including selected slides at: https://scsc.uk/e594

Safety-Critical Systems Symposium 2020 - Call for Abstracts

The call for abstracts for SSS'20 (11-13th Feb 2020 in York, UK) has now closed.

Seminar - Evolution of Assurance Case Practice

On April 4th in London, the SCSC held a 1-day seminar on the future of assurance and safety case practice. This looked at new thinking in the automotive and civil aviation sectors and new developments such as SACM and Dialectic arguments. It also examined what a safety argument for an autonomous system might look like. Selected slides are now available on the event page.

Safety-Critical Systems Symposium SSS'19

The 27^th Safety-Critical Systems Symposium (SSS'19) was held in Bristol, UK at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel (5th to 7th February 2019). #SSS19
The proceedings from the event are available at SCSC-150. Selected slides from this event are being made available under Past Events, SSS'19 as they become available.

Data Safety Guidance

The PDF of the new Data Safety Guidance document (V3.1) SCSC-127D is available to buy in hardcopy from Amazon or for free download. During 2018, feedback was received from four data safety courses and the application of version 3.0 of the Guidance to a real aviation problem, involving the safety of Unmanned Air Vehicles. As a result of this feedback, a number of clarifications and usability enhancements have been incorporated within the document. However, all paragraph numbers remain consistent with version 3.0. This release should therefore not be seen as a new version of the Guidance, but rather as an improved version of 3.0.

Autonomous Systems Guidance

The Safety of Autonomous Systems Working Group [SASWG] has published a document representing the first step towards establishing Recognised Good Practice for safety assurance of autonomous systems.  This document, Safety Assurance Objectives for Autonomous Systems, is available at SCSC-153.

Seminar - COTS, Legacy and Reuse

This seminar was held on 6th December in London and featured seven talks from acknowledged experts in the reuse of existing components, be they COTS, SOUP or other legacy items when an assurance claim for the overall system or service must be made.

Selected slides from this event are now available.