Towards the Dynamic Contracting of Verification Activities With Set-Based Design: An Initial Model of Rework

Abstract

This paper is intended to disseminate initial outcomes of the NPS Research Acquisition Program “Dynamic Contracting of Verification Activities by Applying Set-Based Design to the Definition of Verification Strategies” project. Verification activities provide the evidence of contractual fulfillment. In current practice, a verification strategy is defined at the beginning of an acquisition program and is agreed upon by customer and contractor at contract signature. This research project shows that contractually committing to a fixed verification strategy at the beginning of an acquisition program fundamentally leads to suboptimal acquisition performance. This is caused by the uncertain nature of system development, which will make, as it progresses, verification activities that were not previously planned necessary and will make some of the planned ones unnecessary. Therefore, dynamic contracting of verification activities is necessary to guarantee optimality of acquisition programs in this area. Such an approach to contracting may be enabled by applying set-based design to the definition of verification strategies. This paper provides a summary of such an approach and contributes with a refined model of rework activities that may be undertaken to increase the confidence on the proper functioning of the system as verification results become known.