1.2.2 Standards: Their Significance, Uses, and Potential Meaning to the Systems Engineering Community

Abstract

Within the technical disciplines, there has been a renewed interest in standards, especially in the commercial sector, over the past few years. With respect to systems engineering, this has been evidenced by the generation of two complementary standards, EIA 632 Processes for Engineering a System and EIA/IS 731 Systems Engineering Capability, both of which were prepared with the joint participation of the EIA and INCOSE. This paper provides an overview of the various types, or categories, of standards with the intent of providing a basic understanding of standards and their use, which have often been misunderstood. Some examples of the use of standards are provided from both the past and present. The paper concentrates specifically on those aspects of standards of importance to systems engineering. Directions proposed by the INCOSE Standards Task Force for INCOSE to pursue in the future with respect to standards are then explored. The paper concludes with a glossary of standards making organizations of interest to systems engineering.