Analysis of Operational Hazards and Safety Requirements for Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR)

Safety analyses of the Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR) Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) application are provided to establish its Failure Effects Classification which affects certification and operational approval requirements. TASAR was developed by NASA Langley Research Center to offer flight path improvement opportunities to the pilot during flight for operational benefits (e.g., reduced fuel, flight time). TASAR, using own-ship and network-enabled information concerning the flight and its environment, including weather and Air Traffic Control (ATC) system constraints, provides recommended improvements to the flight trajectory that the pilot can choose to request via Change Requests to ATC for revised clearance. This study reviews the Change Request process of requesting updates to the current clearance, examines the intended function of TASAR, and utilizes two safety assessment methods to establish the Failure Effects Classification of TASAR. Considerable attention has been given in this report to the identification of operational hazards potentially associated with TASAR

An integrated requirements management system for construction projects

Within the AEC/FM Industry, the current paper-based system used to manage client requirements information and the change request process lacks efficiency and effectiveness. Traditionally, requirements management has principally been focused at the early stages of a construction project where elicited client requirements information is used as the basis for design and does not extend to later phases. Links between corresponding requirements at different phases do not exist which makes traceability difficult. There are no methods to keep track of client requirements and the changes in a satisfactory way that take a whole lifecycle approach. Construction organisations, like other engineering related businesses, are turning to computer systems (to replace current manual and paper intensive processes) in their quest for practical ways to facilitate requirements information management. This paper presents a prototype system for client requirements information management taking a whole lifecycle approach. It comprises of integrated components made up of a repository and change management system (CMS). The prototype was developed following case studies of construction projects and interviews with construction experts in order to fully understand the need for such a system. The applicability and effectiveness of the prototype will be validated using a focus group made up of various construction stakeholders and academic practitioners

Managing Process Variants in the Process Life Cycle

When designing process-aware information systems, often variants of the same process have to be specified. Each variant then constitutes an adjustment of a particular process to specific requirements building the process context. Current Business Process Management (BPM) tools do not adequately support the management of process variants. Usually, the variants have to be kept in separate process models. This leads to huge modeling and maintenance efforts. In particular, more fundamental process changes (e.g., changes of legal regulations) often require the adjustment of all process variants derived from the same process; i.e., the variants have to be adapted separately to meet the new requirements. This redundancy in modeling and adapting process variants is both time consuming and error-prone. This paper presents the Provop approach, which provides a more flexible solution for managing process variants in the process life cycle. In particular, process variants can be configured out of a basic process following an operational approach; i.e., a specific variant is derived from the basic process by applying a set of well-defined change operations to it. Provop provides full process life cycle support and allows for flexible process configuration resulting in a maintainable collection of process variants

Advancing automation and robotics technology for the Space Station Freedom and for the US economy

In April 1985, the NASA Advanced Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC) reported to Congress the results of its studies on advanced automation and robotics technology for use on Space Station Freedom. This material was documented in the initial report (NASA Technical Memorandum 87566). The progress made by Levels 1, 2, and 3 of the Office of Space Station in developing and applying advanced automation and robotics technology are described. Emphasis was placed upon the Space Station Freedom Program responses to specific recommendations made in ATAC Progress Report 9, the Flight Telerobotic Servicer, the Advanced Development Program, and the Data Management System. Assessments are presented for these and other areas as they apply to the advancement of automation and robotics technology for the Space Station Freedom

An enterprise architecture framework for electronic requirements information management

© 2017 Elsevier LtdManaging information about client requirements effectively can contribute to improve the quality of built facilities, and their related services. However, the process has been challenging to construction project management often resulting in failed projects. This necessitates an overwhelming need for a better approach. This paper presents a novel enterprise architecture framework for managing information about client requirements across all phases of a construction project and through-life of a built facility. The Integrated electronic Requirements Information Management Framework (eRIM) defines an information-centric, and process and service-oriented enterprise architecture approach to requirements management. It also describes how Information and Communication Technology (ICT)/Information Systems (IS) can support this information management. In developing the framework, findings from three case study projects were collated through observations, a questionnaire and interviews of construction practitioners. It is concluded that when implemented and incorporated in the management of construction projects, the eRIM architecture framework can potentially contribute towards improved and more efficient and effective management of client requirements across all stages of a project. Further work is outlined to operationalize the framework

Analysis of requirements volatility during software development life cycle

Investigating the factors that drive requirements change is an important prerequisite for understanding the nature of requirements volatility. This increased understanding will improve the process of requirements change management. This paper mainly focuses on change analysis to identify and characterize the causes of requirements volatility. We apply a causal analysis method on change request data to develop a taxonomy of change. This taxonomy allows us to identify and trace the problems, reasons and sources of changes. Adopting an industrial case study approach, our findings reveal that the main causes of requirements volatility were changes in customer needs (or market demands), developers' increased understanding of the products, and changes in the organization policy. During the development process, we also examined the extent of requirements volatility and discovered that the rate of volatility was high at the time of requirements specification completion and while functional specification reviews were conducted

Improving the management of change requests in construction of large building projects in Saudi Arabia

One of the challenges faced by project managers is frequent change requests, which usually lead to changes in the scope of a project. Change has been said to be inevitable, and without change everything stagnates. However, ad hoc changes can be adverse, and in some instances cause whole projects to stagnate, or fail. Therefore, studies on the causes and effects of change requests are critical. The latest official reports about government projects in Saudi Arabia suggested that 62% experienced change in the contract, and one project had cancelled 80% of the items of the contract, which changed the project completely. The extent of this problem posed a need to study the cause of stalled projects in the Kingdom. Responding to these concerns, the aim of this research is to explore the conceptualization of change requests, and how they occur, the causes and effects of change requests and the current methods of handling change requests and how effective they are in large building projects in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Based on the exploration the research provides a comprehensive analysis of issues surrounding change requests- including cultural impacts- from the perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups, in a distinctive, under- researched context. This in turn leads to development of a conceptual framework for understanding change requests and diagnosing related problems.A qualitative approach and case study strategy was applied to study this phenomenon and to explore whether and how culture affects change requests in Saudi Arabia. Data collection was conducted by two means: Secondary data were collected from documents reporting change requests (n= 6) and change orders (n= 7) in large construction companies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 stakeholders of four large government construction projects: 4 owner representatives, 15 consultants, 4 project managers and 17 department managers.The findings revealed inconsistent and confused conceptualizations of change requests, and failure to distinguish between change requests and change orders. None of the projects had standardised, formally documented change request procedures, but relied on informal communications. A variety of causes for change requests, beyond those previously documented in the literature were identified, including internal causes arising from one or other of the project stakeholders, and external causes outside the stakeholders’ control. Direct effects included time and cost overruns, while potential (indirect) effects included lowered morale and productivity, and loss of reputation. However, there could also be positive effects, such as improved quality and client satisfaction. Change requests are currently handled ad hoc as they occur. The findings also revealed the impact of Saudi culture (notably power distance and uncertainty avoidance) on project management generally, and change requests specifically.It is concluded that change request frequency could be reduced and harmful impacts minimized by engagement of all stakeholders in the project design stage, use of a standard contract such as FIDIC to clarify parties’ responsibilities and protect their rights, and use of formal documented change request procedures. However, for Saudi Arabia and other developing countries, which may be using non-standard contracts and ad hoc change request procedures, the framework proposal in this study can be used to aid consistency and clarity among stakeholders, diagnose bottlenecks and identify appropriate solutions to minimize change requests and mitigate harmful impacts on projects

Integrated lifecycle requirements information management in construction

Effective management of information about client requirements in construction projects lifecycle can contribute to high construction productivity; within budget and schedule, and improve the quality of built facilities and service delivery. Traditionally, requirements management has been focused at the early stages of the construction lifecycle process where elicited client requirements information is used as the basis for design. Management of client requirements does not extend to the later phases. Client requirements often evolve and change dramatically over a facility’s life. Changing client requirements is one of the principal factors that contribute to delays and budget overruns of construction projects. This results in claims, disputes and client dissatisfaction. The problems of current requirements management process also include: lack of integrated and collaborative working with requirements; lack of integrated requirements information flow between the various heterogeneous systems used in the lifecycle processes, and between the multiple stakeholders; inefficient and ineffective coordination of changes within the lifecycle processes; manual checking of dependencies between changing requirements to facilitate assessment of cost and time impact of changes. The aim of the research is to specify a better approach to requirements information management to help construction organisations reduce operational cost and time in product development and service delivery; whilst increasing performance and productivity, and realising high quality of built facilities. In order to achieve the aim and the formulated objectives, firstly, a detailed review of literature on related work was conducted. Secondly, the research designed, developed and conducted three case studies to investigate the state-of-the-art of managing client requirements information. A combination of multiple data collection methods was applied which included observations, interviews, focus group and questionnaires. Following this, the data was analysed and problems were identified; the necessity for a lifecycle approach to managing the requirements information emerged. (Continues...)