Organizations face significant challenges in achieving justified confidence that a system of systems (SoS) functions as intended in its actual environment of use, including how to reduce the cost of assurance, reduce the time it takes to gain assurance or re-certification, and achieve security without impeding needed functionality.

In the System of Systems Software Assurance (SoSSA) Initiative, we are developing an integrated set of theories, methods, and practices to lower the cost and reduce the time required to achieve justified confidence in SoS behavior. Our SoSSA work focuses on

• assurance that undiscovered defects and vulnerabilities as well as unanticipated usage, environmental conditions, reconfiguration, and evolution will not impair functioning unacceptably
• reliability, security, and performance
• systems of systems in which rapid end-user adaptation is needed (such as  large-scale, multi-user information management and command-and-control systems of systems)
• the use of structured argumentation (assurance cases) to achieve justified confidence in SoS behavior

How We Can Help

John Goodenough leads the SoSSA initiative in helping 

• DoD or civilian government programs concerned with gaining confidence in the security or reliability of a large, complex system
• organizations that realize that software reliability is a problem that is not being well addressed today
• organizations concerned about SoS security

Additional Resources

• Learn more about our SoSSA research
• Download our information sheet
• Download our white paper on software’s impact on SoS reliability