12ICSQ
12th International Conference on Software Quality
Software Division of
The American Society for Quality
Alec Dorling - Invited Speaker
Alec Dorling is an internationally recognized expert in the field of
Software Quality Management, Process Assessment and Improvement. He has
held key posts at international research institutes that include the
Centre for Software Engineering in Sweden, the European Software Institute
in Spain and the National Computing Centre in the UK. He is a chartered
engineer with over 30 years experience in the IT industry gained both in
real-time and commercial systems environments. He has been involved with
most of the key UK government's initiatives in software engineering
and software quality.
Alec Dorling is the international project leader of the SPICE (Software
Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination) project and convener of
the ISO group developing ISO/IEC 15504. He is currently actively involved
in leading world-wide assessments of suppliers in the Space and Automotive
sectors.
Alec is also a Director of The Procurement Forum and is involved in key
European projects in IT procurement process assessment, best practice,
benchmarking and improvement. During the last four years Alec has
been the project leader of the European PULSE and PROBE IT procurement
process assessment, benchmarking and improvement projects and has
participated in the procurement best practice projects ASSIST and
VALIDATE.
Applications of SPICE to Quality Management Systems
ISO 15504, the emerging standard on software process assessment was first published in 1998. Since that time over 2000 assessments have been performed worldwide. Based on feedback from the international community the standard is currently being revised to meet the further needs of community. The emerging standard will provide a more open architecture with process reference models that can be independently defined. Process reference models are already under development for areas such as ISO9001, Component Based Development, IT Procurement and IT Service Management. Certification is also becoming an issue with moves to provide certification of assessment results. The SPICE project that has supported the international standardization effort has also undergone a ‘makeover’. with the launch of the SPICE Network.. SPARCS - an international benchmarking activity will be launched later this year.