TGCC Chapter Meeting August 2016
What do the terms Verification & Validation really mean?
While the concepts of verification and validation are commonplace, the terms are often used interchangeably and the context of their use is not made clear, resulting in the meaning of the concepts being often misunderstood. This presentation addresses the use of the terms verification and validation and identifies their various meanings in terms of the context in which they are used. In particular, it is identified that both terms are very ambiguous unless a modifier is included in front of the word, clearly indicating what context the term is referring to: requirement definition, design, or product. This is true particularly when the terms are combined into the generic terms verification and validation (V&V); independent V&V (IV&V) or integration, verification and validation (IV&V).
Lou Wheatcraft is a senior instructor/consultant for Requirements Experts (RE) who educates organizations on the importance of writing good requirements and helps them implement Requirement Development and Management (RD&M) processes based on industry best practices. Lou has taught over 180 requirement seminars over the last 16 years. Lou works with both government and industry clients to tailor training for their organization and provides just in time team training for specific projects. Lou has spoken at Project Management Institute (PMI) Chapter meetings, International Council of System Engineering (INCOSE) conferences and NASA’s PM Challenge and delivered tutorials to PMI and INCOSE chapters at multiple locations. Lou has had published and presented a multitude of papers on requirement RD&M topics for NASA’s PM Challenge, INCOSE, INCOSE INSIGHT Magazine, and Crosstalk Magazine. Lou is a member of INCOSE, co-chair of the INCOSE Requirements Working Group, a member of PMI, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), the World Futures Society, and the National Honor Society of Pi Alpha Alpha. Lou has a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State University, an MA degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of Houston – Clear Lake, an MS degree in Environmental Management from the University of Houston – Clear Lake, and has completed the course work for an MS degree in Studies of the Future from the University of Houston – Clear Lake. Lou is the primary contributor to RE’s blog on requirements best practices. The blog can be assessed at: http://www.reqexperts.com/blog.