Safety Practices in Requirements Engineering: The Uni-REPM Safety Module
2020 (English)In: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, ISSN 0098-5589, E-ISSN 1939-3520, Vol. 46, no 3, p. 222-250Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Context: Software is an important part in safety- critical system (SCS) development since it is becoming a major source of hazards. Requirements-related hazards have been as- sociated with many accidents and safety incidents. Requirements issues tend to be mitigated in companies with high processes maturity levels since they do their business in a systematic, consistent and proactive approach. However, requirements en- gineers need systematic guidance to consider safety concerns early in the development process. Goal: the paper investigates which safety practices are suitable to be used in the Requirements Engineering (RE) process for SCS and how to design a safety maturity model for this area. Method: we followed the design science methodology to propose Uni-REPM SCS, a safety module for Unified Requirements Engineering Process Maturity Model (Uni-REPM). We also conducted a static validation with two practitioners and nine academic experts to evaluate its coverage, correctness, usefulness and applicability. Results: The module has seven main processes, fourteen sub-processes and 148 practices that form the basis of safety processes maturity. Moreover, we describe its usage through a tool. Conclusions: The validation indicates a good coverage of practices and well receptivity by the experts. Finally, the module can help companies in evaluating their current practices. IEEE
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. , 2020. Vol. 46, no 3, p. 222-250
Keywords [en]
Capability maturity model, Companies, Maturity Models, Requirements engineering, Safety, Safety Engineering, Safety-critical systems, Software, Standards, Systematics, Uni-REPM, Accident prevention, Computer software, Hazards, Industry, Security systems, Software engineering, Capability maturity models, Maturity model, Safety critical systems
National Category
Software Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:bth-16642DOI: 10.1109/TSE.2018.2846576ISI: 000522205900001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85048550515OAI: oai:DiVA.org:bth-16642DiVA, id: diva2:1228533
Funder
Knowledge Foundation, 201402182018-06-282018-06-282020-04-16Bibliographically approved