Update on the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) by Nicole Hutchinson, PhD. Stevens Institute of Technology Email: nicole.hutchison@stevens.edu Update on the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge Copyright Š 2021 by Hutchinson. Authored for PPI SyEN. ByNicole Nicole Hutchinson
Abstract
All rights reserved. Authored for PPI SyEN
In 2012, the Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) set a new precedent â delivering a curated, authoritative professional body of knowledge in a wiki format. Until that time professional bodies of knowledge had been created as documents, or in some cases, those documents had been converted to static websites. The SEBoK team created a mechanism for maintaining quality while allowing for more rapid update and turnover. Since 2012, the SEBoK model has been used by several bodies of knowledge. This article provides perspective on the evolution of the SEBoK, answers some common questions around the SEBoK, and discusses future evolution. Introduction and Background Starting in 2009, the Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASEâ˘) project was launched by the US Department of Defense to create a body of knowledge for systems engineering and a reference curriculum for systems engineering graduate education. The creation of the Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) and the Graduate Reference Curriculum for Systems Engineering (GRCSEâ˘) has been detailed in many publications (e.g. Adcock 2016; Miller et al. 2013; Hutchison et al. 2012). A summary is that a global team of over 80 individuals across government, industry, and academia, supported by hundreds of reviewers around the world, created the SEBoK and GRCSE over three years, with the initial offerings (called version 1.0 for both) released in 2012. The SEBoK set a new technical precedent â delivering a curated, authoritative professional body of knowledge in a wiki format. To that point, professional bodies of knowledge had been created as documents, or in some cases, those documents had been converted to static websites. The SEBoK team created a mechanism for maintaining quality while allowing for more rapid update and turn over. The SEBoK is now on version 2.5, the seventeenth major release since 2012, while becoming the most-used reference for systems engineering in the world. The SEBoK has seen over 2 million unique users and continues to see growth over time. This rapid evolution has been coupled with a focus on quality, with every update to the SEBoK meeting several key criteria: â˘
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Philosophy â the SEBoK is a guide to the body of knowledge, not a compendium. This means that authors and editors strive to add new references and summarize as appropriate, not to re-create existing materials. State of Practice and the Art â the SEBoK reflects the discipline of systems engineering as it stands, including both current practices and approaches as well as advanced techniques that are still maturing. Descriptive â As part of accurately representing the practice, the SEBoK seeks to summarize and describe the literature available around the world, not just a single point of view. This means that if the systems community disagrees about a topic, both perspectives are reflected in the SEBoK, with discussion around situations where one perspective or another might more readily apply. [Contents]
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