Four detailed tutorials on systems engineering topics will be offered on Monday, April 13. Registration is separate from conference registration. See the fees here.
Tutorial Listing
Cyber Security Tutorial
Time: 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Instructor: Robert Swarz, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Abstract: This tutorial will describe the basic techniques and technologies that can be used to assure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information exchanged across networks. After an overview of basic information security concepts, we will motivate the need for cyber security by outlining the threats impacting government, infrastructure, and industry and by describing case studies of some actual cyber attacks. Selected concepts will be expanded upon, such as TCP/IP-based network security principles, encryption, public key infrastructure, and authentication protocols, An overview of the legal, policy, and regulatory environment will be presented. We will conclude with a summary of common controls, as well as a discussion of principal sources of up-to-date information and guidance on cyber security threats.
Department of Defense's Transformational Changes in "Big A" Acquisition
Time: 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Instructor: Mrs. Yvette Rodriguez, Defense Acquisition University
Abstract: The Department of Defense acquires defense systems by implementing the Big “A” Concept, which is comprised of the Defense Acquisition System (DAS), the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), and the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Process. The DAS, JCIDS, and PPBE process provide the necessary tool set to understand the needs of the warfighter and strategically implement programmatic, technical, and financial management to successfully deliver defense systems. Transitioning from 2014 to 2015, the DoD embarked on novel measures advancing the methodologies of the Big “A” Concept and its supporting systems. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD(AT&L)) released Better Buying Power (BBP) 3.0 in September 2014 communicating the need to do more without more, while focusing on program affordability, controlling cost, rewarding contractors, eliminating unnecessary and low-value added processes, promoting effective competition, improving tradecraft in service acquisition, and improving the total acquisition workforce professionalism. Strengthening the DoD’s buying power requires innovative perspectives and inventive practices. USD(AT&L) continues to promote DoD’s buying power through the modernized releases of the Interim DoD Risk Management Guide for Defense Acquisition Programs in December 2014, the DoD Instruction 5000.02 Operation of the Defense Acquisition System in January 2015 and the Manual for the Operation of the JCIDS in February 2015. This tutorial will provide the audience with an overall perspective of the generalized DoD acquisition process in the “big A” concept with an emphasis on the DAS. It will also explore the modernization of DoD policy and guidance in “big A” acquisition, Better Buying Power 3.0, and their integrated role in engineering systems using the DAS.
Principles and Practice of Operational Resilience
Time: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Instructor: Nader Mehravari, Software Engineering Institute & Carnegie Mellon University
Abstract: Organizations large or small, public or private, civilian or federal, continue to invest in a variety of independent operational risk management activities including cybersecurity, IT disaster recovery, business continuity, incident management, information security, etc. However, given the extreme complexity of today's business processes, a disjointed stovepipe approach to operational risk management is no longer viable. Successful protection and sustainment of one's enterprise missions now requires a fully integrated approach that incorporates unification, standardization, automation, and training while balancing affordability and risk management. In addition, organizations are increasingly shifting preparedness planning philosophy from "recovery" to "resilience" with the ability to "absorb" disruptive events (including cyber-attacks). Operational resilience is the emergent property of an entity that can continue to carry out its mission in the presence of operational stress and disruption that does not exceed its limit and allows the organization to protect and sustain high-value services and their associated assets. This tutorial is intended to provide the audience with a comprehensive overview of system and business resilience, operational resilience management, and associated concepts and challenges.
Safety Issues in Complex Engineered Systems
Time: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Instructor: Shrisha Rao, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore
Abstract: This tutorial aims to give a broad introduction to the study and practice of safety in the design and operation of complex systems. The field is obviously too vast to be covered in a single tutorial session, but an attempt will be made to give a representative overview of the many issues concerning safety, and to highlight some of the important aspects that an attendee may consider to be worth further study. The tutorial may be of interest to practitioners as well as theoreticians new to safety-critical systems: software developers and architects, system engineers and operators of industrial plants, computer scientists and graduate students who know program analysis and temporal logic but wish to understand how safety concerns play out in practice, etc.