Presented on February 20, 2019 at 1PM ET by David P. Seaver, Senior Technical Advisor Business Intelligence Organization, National Security Agency

For more information on this Talk and others, please visit: 
https://sercuarc.org/serc-talks/. 

ABSTRACT: The B4 organization at National Security Agency (NSA) prepares all of the Independent Cost Estimates for major NSA Acquisitions. NSA has been developing most of its software utilizing Agile development practices since approximately 2005. Around 2014 the development processes began to transition to a DevOps process. This change has required changes to the estimation workflows and processes that B4 had been utilizing for the estimation of Agile projects. This presentation will first provide a brief discussion of what Agile and DevOps are. Where they are the same and what the differences are. It will then discuss what changes to the estimation workflow and processes have been required to support DevOps estimation. Finally, the implications these changes will have on the once and future COCOMO models: Size inputs, Tools, Activity and Resource models, Testing.

BIO: David P. Seaver is a Senior Technical Advisor in the Business Intelligence organization at NSA. In that role, he is the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Software Estimation and Measurement. David has been doing this for 30 years. Prior to NSA he worked at PRICE Systems LLC, Fidelity Investments, ALCATEL, and NASA.

SERC TALKS: How Does the Transition From Agile to DevOps Impact Software Cost Estimation?

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SERC TALKS: “What is the role of a Reference Architecture in research and development of autonomous and/or cooperative systems?”

Presented on October 2, 2019 at 1PM ET by Dr. David R. Jacques, Lt-Col (USAF-Ret), Professor of Systems Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology

For more information on this Talk and others, please visit:
https://sercuarc.org/serc-talks/

ABSTRACT: The Autonomy and Navigation Technology (ANT) Center at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has begun development of a new Reference Architecture for Autonomy to begin to answer the myriad of needs within research, development and testing of autonomous and/or cooperative systems. This Reference Architecture will initially cater to small unmanned aerial and ground vehicles and the interfaces and operators that would be used to direct these vehicles in accomplishing tasks. The framework should be flexible to allow achievement of effective mission capabilities with autonomous and cooperative agents. The framework will consist of hardware and software models and documentation that will enable researchers to develop focused autonomy capabilities in a stable and comparable testbed, with the intention of accommodating both simulated and real world flight test where appropriate. The Reference Architecture will facilitate reuse of hardware/software components, thus allowing accelerated design-build-test cycles and progress towards greater capabilities from autonomous/cooperative agent systems. The first spiral will focus on multi-vehicle aerial/ground missions and include several mission templates that exercise a range of human-autonomy interactions.

Dr. David Jacques is a Professor of Systems Engineering within the Department of Systems Engineering and Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). Dr. Jacques joined the AFIT faculty as a military member in 1999 and became a civilian faculty member in 2004 upon retirement from active duty in the Air Force. In prior military assignments he served in various capacities associated with development planning, research and development, developmental test, and intelligence analysis of foreign weapon systems. Within SERC, Dr. Jacques leads the AFIT efforts within the long standing "Systems Qualities Ontology, Tradespace, and Affordability (SQOTA)" research project, a now 7 year effort uniting nine of the SERC Collaborating Universities. Dr. Jacques' research interests include effectiveness of wide area search systems, cooperative behavior and control of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) and munitions, and early application of Systems Engineering for concept definition and requirements definition.

Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of his research interests, his thesis advisement at AFIT has spanned seven academic programs and two academic departments. As a faculty researcher, he has served as a principal investigator on 32 funded research proposals at AFIT, and collaborated on 28 others. The total value of these 60 proposals is approximately $4.7 million in external funding. The research projects Dr. Jacques has been involved in have addressed critical problems and applications spanning the DOD and other government agencies. To date he has documented his research results in 26 archival journal publications, seven book chapters, one Systems Engineering case study, four magazine articles, 61 refereed conference papers, and numerous technical presentations and invited talks. Dr. Jacques is also an AFIT alum, earning his master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1989 and his PhD in Systems Engineering in 1995.

SERC TALKS: What is the role of a Reference Architecture in R&D of autonomous / cooperative systems?

This two-day event unites the government, industry, and university systems engineering research community in order to share research progress and discuss the most challenging systems engineering issues facing the Department of Defense (DOD) as well as other federal departments and agencies.

LEARN MORE:
https://sercuarc.org/research-reviews/ssrr-2019/

REGISTER TODAY: 2019 Systems Engineering Research Center Research Review

Presented on June 5, 2019 at 1PM ET by Dr. Steve Mayner, SAFe Fellow and Principal Consultant, Scaled Agile

For more information on this Talk and others, please visit:
https://sercuarc.org/serc-talks/.

ABSTRACT: DevOps practices such as continuous integration and continuous deployment were born in the world of software development. That works with bits and bytes, but how can DevOps work with programs that produce physical systems such as satellites, fighter jets, and high-tech medical equipment? In this presentation, Dr. Steve Mayner, SAFe Fellow and Principal Consultant at Scaled Agile, shares a brief overview of the top ten DevOps practices that can be adapted to produce faster time-to-delivery and higher quality with cyber-physical systems. The practices are a synthesis of the guidance for large solution development from the Scaled Agile Framework, and the white paper on Industrial DevOps from IT Revolution, which Dr. Mayner co-authored.

Dr. Steve Mayner is an executive coach and Lean-Agile evangelist with a passion for cultivating transformational leaders and high performing teams. His 30-year career in business includes roles as Vice President in multiple Fortune 500 companies, as well as Chief Technology Officer for a Health IT startup company. Steve is a thought leader and change agent for Lean-Agile and DevOps adoption within the world’s largest organizations as well as the U.S. federal government. In his current role as a SAFe® Fellow for Scaled Agile, Inc., Steve is using his experience as an innovator, strategist, public speaker, teacher, trusted advisor, and transformational leader to help enterprises in the Global 1000 implement Lean-Agile and DevOps at scale. He holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree in Strategy and Innovation, as well as Masters’ degrees in Business Administration and Divinity, and a Bachelor’s in Education. He has been a PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since 1999, and an Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) since 2012. He also holds a Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) credential from Scrum Alliance. Steve retired in 2003 as a commissioned officer in the reserve component of the U.S. Air Force with just under 21 years of service. He is married with five children and three grandsons. He lives in Southern Maryland in the U.S., and is an avid golfer, runner, cyclist, and backpacker.

SERC TALKS: How Does the Transition From Agile to DevOps Impact Software Cost Estimation?

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