Global Workforce Development Projects in Software Engineering

Abstract

Two projects now underway have the potential to signi - cantly improve the worldwide software engineering workforce. The Integrated Software and Systems Engineering Curricu- lum Project (ISSEC) recently published Graduate Software Engineering 2009 (GSwE2009): Curriculum Guidelines for Graduate Degree Programs in Software Engineering. Initially sponsored by DoD with over 40 authors, the IEEE Computer Society and the Association for Computing Machinery now maintain and evolve GSwE2009 with support from the Inter- national Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). The sec- ond project, Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASE), is creating two products: a body of knowledge for systems engineering and guidelines for a professional master’s degree in systems engineering. Both the body of knowledge and the reference curriculum will incorporate software engineering as appropriate, to re ect the critical importance that software plays in modern systems. DoD, INCOSE, IEEE Systems Council, and IEEE Computer Society Educational Activities Board support and participate in BKCASE. Together, the products of ISSEC and BKCASE should accelerate the collaboration and potential integration of the systems and software engineering workforces.