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In the afterglow, or aftermath of Brighton - depending on your point of view - there are a number of lessons to be learned, actions to take, initiatives to get under way.
First, we know from the experience of other Chapters that have hosted the International Symposium that there can be a very deadly lull of Chapter activity after the Big Event. We have tried to forestall this by having a largely separate team of people working on the next Chapter event - an Autumn mini-symposium, to replace what became known as the AGM Event. Further details for this event will be published shortly. The details are not as advanced as we had planned, largely because I have asked for a review and alterations to the programme, building more on the experience of Brighton than we had otherwise planned to do.
We are also concentrating some of our efforts on increasing locally based activity. We had an overwhelmingly successful event at Bristol earlier this year. There is nothing to prevent a repeat of this success if we follow the same formula. What is needed is a local champion, to host the event and to do the necessary pre-positioning, advertising and strategic arm-twisting. John Mead will be very pleased to hear from any willing volunteers. The UK Chapter organisation will do the rest including finding some funds, a speaker or speakers, and, probably, some warm bodies.
On the INCOSE deliverables side, I thought the INCOSE Central stand was a bit disappointing at Brighton. However, we do need to learn to do most of our business in this respect by e-mail and the Internet. Try visiting the INCOSE web site, which is constantly being improved, with a members only area, goodies to download and useful hot links.
I dont know how well my call went for more involvement by Chapter members with the Interest and Working Groups of INCOSE. I didnt get along to a single one because of my Technical Chair activities. Perhaps members can use this Newsletter or the INCOSE UK web site to take further any interest generated. Several of the IGs and WGs are very actively considering and doing things to improve the way that their members can work remotely. There seems to be a general recognition that the mad scrambles of hastily arranged meetings twice a year - once at the International Workshop and then at the Annual Symposium (when folk want to be doing other things) - is no longer feasible.
Id like to draw attention to one area of interest that is not presently covered by the INCOSE Technical Committees and that is Soft Systems Engineering. We had a session on this at Brighton and it received the highest number of positive comments on the paper evaluation sheets than for any other session by a factor of two to three. I interpret this as a reflection of strong interest in the subject because it deals with whole system issues. My colleague, John Boardman, has raised the possibility (the spectre for some, no doubt) of a Soft Systems Interest Group. It may be hard for the INCOSE Technical Board to contend with this, after all, which Technical Committee could they hand it to? What area of Systems Engineering would they say Soft Systems techniques were a part? Id like to suggest that if there is sufficient interest in the UK Chapter on this subject, then well get our own Interest Group going and see how quickly we can grow this, including outwards, to the International level. Any initial expressions of interest, please send to John Boardman at
. There will shortly be an item on the INCOSE UK web site addressing this issue.
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