ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 was first established in 1987, though the origins of the subcommittee began with ISO/TC 97, established in 1960 as a standardization technical committee in the field of information processing. With the formation of ISO/IEC JTC 1 in 1987, ISO/TC 97 and IEC/TC 83 were combined to form ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7, Software Engineering.[2] In 2000, the subcommittee changed its title from Software Engineering to its current title, Software and Systems Engineering.[3] ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 held its first plenary in Paris, France in 1987.[2]
Scope and mission
The scope of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 is the “Standardization of processes, supporting tools and supporting technologies for the engineering of software products and systems,” including
Software and systems engineering processes
Software system products
Enterprise architecture
Software engineering environment
Software engineering body of knowledge
Management of IT assets
The mission of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 is to
Provide quality standards that cover the entire life-cycle of information systems
Provide quality standards that meet user needs in broad markets
Manage the set of standards effectively through documented framework
Promote the use of standards by providing supporting materials
Provide leadership in standardization through:
A continuous technology watch process using Study Groups to explore new areas and markets
The development of a comprehensive set of integrated standards with broad international and professional consensus
Initiating cooperative work with international professional and standards producing organizations
A framework that:
Facilitates the integration and sub-contracting of standards developed in other standards producing organizations
Facilitates cooperative development of joint standards with other international standards producing organizations
Minimizes the inconsistencies between ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 standards, including those developed by other standards producing organizations
Structure
As of August 2020, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 is made up of 14 active working groups (WGs), three ad hoc working groups (AHGs) and five advisory groups (AGs). Each of these groups carries out specific tasks in standards development within the field of systems and software engineering. As a response to standardization needs within the field of software and systems engineering, working groups within ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 were disbanded if their working area was no longer applicable, or established if new working areas arose. The focus of each working group, special working group, advisory group, and task force is described in the group’s terms of reference.
Active working groups of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 are:[4][5]
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 also had one task force, “Spanish Translation Task Force”.
Collaborations
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 works in close collaboration with a number of other organizations or subcommittees, both internal and external to ISO or IEC, in order to avoid conflicting or duplicative work. Organizations internal to ISO or IEC that collaborate with or are in liaison to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 include:[6]
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22, Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces
Countries pay a fee to ISO to be members of subcommittees.[7]
The 40 "P" (participating) members of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 are: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Uruguay.
The 20 "O" (observing) members of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 are: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, Estonia, Ghana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, Morocco, Norway, Philippines, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey.[8]
Published standards
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 currently has 153 published standards within the field of software and systems engineering, including:[9]
Systems and software engineering – System life cycle processes
Published (2008)
Establishes a common framework for describing the life cycle of systems created by humans and defines a set of processes and associated terminology[12]
Information technology – Service management – Part 1: Service management system requirements
Published (2011)
Specifies requirements for the service provider to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain, and improve a service management system (SMS)[14]
Information technology – Process assessment – Part 1: Concepts and vocabulary
Published (2004)
Provides overall information on the concepts of process assessment and its use in the two contexts of process improvement and process capability determination[15]
Information technology – Software asset management – Part 1: Processes and tiered assessment of conformance
Published (2012)
Establishes a baseline for an integrated set of processes for Software Asset Management (SAM), divided into tiers to allow for incremental implementation, assessment, and recognition[20]
