BAE Systems will lead the MoD’s Software Systems Engineering Initiative (SSEI).

The UK Ministry of Defence has selected BAE Systems’ Military Air Solutions division to lead a pan-industry and academic consortium focused on the development of High Integrity and Safety Critical Software (HI&SCS).

BAE said it will “provide research and guidance to embed a more coherent approach to the procurement and development of the software”, which has been identified by MoD as “the critical enabling technology” for modern platforms used for defence, network enabled capability (NEC) and complex infrastructure.

MoD has selected BAE, along with a number of industry partners, to lead the Software Systems Engineering Initiative (SSEI) as it believes the software is currently taking too long to produce, at too high a cost and not to requirement.

The official SSEI launch will take place in February 2008.

Management and research work is expected to take place across the UK in a range of organisations including: the University of York; IBM; QinetiQ; Aerosystems International; YorkMetrics; the Systems Engineering Innovation Centre; and Newcastle University.

The SSEI will be a “virtual team” but the initial research work will have a strong presence at the University of York, BAE said.

Jane Fenn of BAE Systems MAS, the Programme Manager for SSEI, commented: “This is a significant journey, but we expect the SSEI will build on an initial programme of research, creating a body of experts able to provide consistent advice to the MoD – in particular into procurement and support projects.”

It is intended that the SSEI will grow over time to include a range of other UK participants.

For more information, visit www.baesystems.com

By Natasha Piscitelli