Challenges and Opportunities in Agile Development in Safety Critical Systems

Abstract

In this paper we describe the results of a recent practitioner survey designed to elicit the opinions as to the challenges and opportunities posed by the application of agile development methods in the field of safety critical systems development. In particular, the survey explored the relationship between three key activities in safety engineering and an agile approach -- namely, safety requirements development, hazard analysis, and safety case development. The results of this survey are presented together with brief discussion of the implications for integration.