Quality assurance – Certification of safety-critical (software) systems, 7.5 credits

Quality assurance – Certification of safety-critical (software) systems, 7.5 credits

All Courses Dependable Software

The aim of this course is to give students insight about certification and about what it means to certify/self-assess safety- critical systems with focus on software system and to create a safety case, including a multi-concern perspective when needed and reuse opportunities, when appropriate.

Responsible: Mälardalen University (Barbara Gallina)

Course modules:

  1. Module-1: Introduction to safety certification.
    This module is expected to: 1) give an introduction to certification of safety-critical systems; 2) transfer knowledge and skills on process vs product/ component vs system/ single system vs family of systems certification/qualification. It will also explain the relation between the following concepts: safety-critical systems, safety culture, development processes according to supplier and manufacturer perspective, certification,” the safety case”. Challenges concerning reuse of certification artifacts and its systematization will be highlighted via reuse scenarios.
  2. Module-2: Standards, certification, and compliance.
    This module is expected to: 1) give an overview of standards used as a baseline for certification; 2) transfer knowledge and skills on various standards (focus on 1 standard e.g., ISO 26262) and their role in the certification process; 3) state of the art overview on compliance management. The usage of some selected and open-source tools enabling provision of compliance-related artifacts will be illustrated, if appropriate.
  3. Module-3: Modelling methods.
    This module is expected to: 1) give an overview of modelling methods needed for the provision and reuse of certification artifacts; 2) transfer knowledge and skills on various modelling methods for the provision of certification artifacts (process as well as product related) of safety-critical systems. The usage of some selected and open-source tools enabling provision and reuse of certification artifacts will be illustrated.

Learning outcomes: The students should after the course be able to:

  1. explain fundamental concepts related to safety certification
  2. create process-related compliance management artifacts
  3. apply modelling methods stemming from state-of-the-art safety standards for developing reusable certification artifacts for safety-critical (software) systems

Related industrial challenges addressed in the course:

  • Standard related challenges: how should a standard be interpreted/used?
  • Safety culture related challenges: how to establish and maintain a safety culture

Planned instances: Spring 2020

More info:

  • Course title in Swedish: Kvalitetssäkring – certifiering av säkerhetskritiska (programvaru-) system
  • Course code: DVA467 (MdH), MDH-14079 (at antagning.se or universityadmissons.se)
  • Course syllabus at Mälardalen University
  • Spring 2020 instance at Mälardalen University
  • Admission requirements: 120 credits where at least 22.5 credits are in computer science and 7.5 credits in software engineering or equivalent. In case of at least 18 months of documented work experience in software development an exemption is made from 7.5 credits software engineering. Applicants with at least 12 month (full-time) documented work-experience from software development have priority in the selection process.