| The software certification and approval process has long been a challenge in the development lifecycle. Recently, under the auspices of DARPA, Lockheed Martin began introducing technology poised to revolutionize the software approval process. This new solution called ArcCert, starts at program inception and automates many of the manual, tedious tasks involved in gathering and curating artifacts for presentation to certification authorities. By making certification-relevant artifacts available throughout the entire development process, ArcCert eliminates the last-minute, onerous documentation and review push. The ArcCert tool suite processes software artifacts to create Digital Assurance Cases (DACs) incrementally and continuously, running in parallel with LM Aeronautics software pipelines to automate data-item generation (evidence), integration, and to support review. This presentation reports on ArcCert’s application to real industrial use cases and the preliminary results observed in production environments. In pilot projects, ArcCert has been deployed to support software certification against standards such as DO-178 and Mil-Hdbk-516. The tool has demonstrated the ability to ingest artifacts largely automatically, construct assurance cases, and provide real-time visibility into certification progress. Users report reductions in the time and eVort required to prepare for certification, along with improved collaboration and communication between development teams and certification authorities. The adaptability of ArcCert is also being explored in other disciplines, such as cyber and systems engineering. As the platform continues to be refined and expanded, it is expected to profoundly improve the eViciency and eVectiveness of certification processes across Lockheed Martin, reducing menial eVort and amplifying the human ability to assess readiness. In this presentation, we will also discuss some challenges and additional opportunities for innovation, especially as we introduce Artificial Intelligence as an enabler. |
|
Stephen Traub is a Software Certification Specialist for Lockheed Martin with 39 years of
|