Human Systems Integration (HSI) is a transdisciplinary sociotechnical and management approach to systems engineering used to ensure that a system’s technical, organizational, and human elements are appropriately addressed across the whole system lifecycle, service or enterprise system. HSI considers systems in their operational context together with the necessary interactions between and among their human and technological elements to make them work in harmony and cost-effectively, from the early design to disposal.
Our mission is to ensure all design and engineering disciplines include human and socio-technical interaction and integration to enable system performance.
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HSI results from the convergence of Human Factors and Ergonomics, which provides human-centred and organisation-centred evaluation techniques and tools (HCD), Information Technology (including AI, Human-Computer Interaction, Modeling and Simulation) and System Engineering, and the Operational Domain of the System of Interest (Circle 3 in the figure 1). HSI can be considered as both an enabling process associating HCD and SE during the whole lifecycle of a system, and a product resulting from this process. Due to the breadth of human considerations and impacts that should be considered by a project - depending on its nature, complexity, and application area - HSI consists of a number of perspectives, such as Safety, Usability, Training, etc (see circle 2, on figure 1) These are used to help ensure that no significant human considerations are missed within requirements analysis, design, evaluation and acceptance testing, and risk management. These perspectives are not exhaustive and the degree to which they each apply will vary from project to project.
Figure 2. HSI emerges from the overlapping of three main circles: (1) technology, organization, and people
within an environment at the heart; (2) examples of HSI perspectives; and (3) contributing disciplines
associated with the Operational Domain at stake in the periphery.
The HSI WG aims to demonstrate the value of HSI as an integral part of the Systems Engineering effort and to develop associated practices, resources, organizations, and training to support the Systems Engineering community's adoption of HSI.
HSI2024 Conference (3rd INCOSE HSI Conference)
Held in Jeju, Republic of Korea, on August 27–29, 2024, in collaboration with the 22nd Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA-2024) — Better Life Ergonomics for Future Humans.
The third edition of the international HSI conference brought together practitioners, researchers, and decision-makers to reaffirm the central place of humans in the design of complex systems.
Format & Content:
20 research papers
6 early research papers
4 industry papers
3 paperless presentations and panels
Highlights:
Inspiring talks on AI, cybersecurity, cognitive ergonomics, and systems engineering.
Case studies demonstrating the integration of human factors in defence, transport, health, and space.
Cross-disciplinary exchanges between engineering, human sciences, and design.
Key themes:
Growing role of generative AI in human interfaces
Ethical and operational limits of automation
Need for user-centred approaches from the earliest design stages
This first hybrid edition of the conference left a strong mark with rich debates and collaborations.
A warm thank you to the speakers, partners, and participants who made this event a success!
INCOSE EMEA WSEC Workshop
Workshop on “HSI & Sustainability” during INCOSE EMEA WSEC, held on April 26, 2023, in Sevilla, Spain.
Attendance: ~20 participants.
Program: 6 presentations and extended discussions.
Introduction — Guy André Boy (France)
Society 5.0 Trend — Grace Kennedy (Australia)
Harmonizing Product Nature and Life — Gauthier Fanmy (France)
Aviation Safety and Innovation — Jean-Jacques Speyer (Belgium)
The Ingescape Solution — Stéphane Vales (France)
The Aquaponic Greenhouse Project — Christophe Merlo (France)
Additional video presentation (intranet): Preventing Environmental Disasters — Avi Harel (Israel).
Human Systems Integration: A Primer
Prepared under a Technical Product Plan approved by INCOSE.
Document No.: Volume I of the HSI Primer
Version/Revision: v1.2
Date: 1 September 2023
Volume 1: HSI Fundamentals
What is Human Systems Integration (HSI)
Key HSI Perspectives
References
HSI WG 2022 Workshop
Held on November 16–18, 2022 in Torrance, California, USA.
Participation: 88 attendees from 12 countries.
Focus: intense presentations and debates across academia, industry, and government.
Key theme: Human-Machine Teaming (HMT) as the integration of Systems Engineering and Artificial Intelligence.
HSI2021 Conference (2nd INCOSE HSI Conference)
Held virtually, November 16–19, 2021.
Organized with the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Brought together industry and academia for joint collaboration.
Other 2021 Outcomes
Drafted the first HSI Chapter for the 5th Edition of the INCOSE SE Handbook (delivered early 2021).
Began work on an HSI Guideline Document.
Active participation at IW2021 (3 sessions, 3 hours each).
Milestone
Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between INCOSE and IEA in November 2020.
Workshops
HSI WG organized three workshops in 2020:
January — California, USA
April — Germany (virtual)
October — INCOSE Israel & ESTIA Institute of Technology, France
Participation: up to 350 participants across 24 countries.
HSI2019 Conference (1st INCOSE HSI Conference)
Held in Biarritz, France, September 11–13, 2019.
Current Focus
The working group is currently working on Vol 2 and 3 of its primer. Contributions are welcome.
Upcoming INCOSE Workshops - Mark Your Calendar! (see below for more information)HSI 2025We are pleased to announce that the INCOSE HSI International Workshop (HSI 2025) will be held from November 5th-7th 2025. This year the workshop will be fully virtual. Event details and registration to come soon, so please save the date!
Upcoming INCOSE Workshops - Mark Your Calendar! (see below for more information)
We are pleased to announce that the INCOSE HSI International Workshop (HSI 2025) will be held from November 5th-7th 2025. This year the workshop will be fully virtual. Event details and registration to come soon, so please save the date!
The theme of this year's workshop is: **HSI Now: People, Practice and Potential**. Exploring the current landscape of Human Systems Integration through shared insights and evolving expertise.
The three dimensions of this year's theme represent the aims for the workshop.
As we formulate the program, we invite you to consider putting in EOIs if you wish to present or chair a session on a specific idea.
Please complete the short form at the link below by September 21st 2025 (at 23:59 wherever you are in the world). https://forms.office.com/r/LU7r74Xyii
Yammer is INCOSE's social media platform for members. Use your INCOSE-issued Microsoft credential to login and join the conversation. INCOSE credentials are in the form of [email protected] or [email protected].