2016 IEEE 24th International Requirements Engineering Conference

Requirements Engineering
for the Digital Transformation
Industry Panel
Christof Ebert Carlos Henrique C. Duarte
Vector Consulting Services Brazilian Development Bank, BNDES
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract– Industry and society as a whole are facing radical The driving force behind all these foreseeing
changes due to fast growing digital technologies and their transformations is software and its engineering. Software
penetration of practically all areas. Products and services will has long been recognized as main sources of competitive
increasingly augment and integrate the real world with the advantage of corporations, industries and nations. No matter
digital world. This digital transformation has reached all what business you are in, you are also in the software
business areas. The role of Requirements Engineering is
business. Software and IT have been an important shaper of
therefore changing in becoming even more ubiquitous:
Changing value chains and production processes, as well as industries and consumer behaviors for many decades.
new business models and innovative IT and software systems, Digitization – though a buzzword today – has been used in
need to be developed and operated in even shorter time frames. IT a long time to frame the move of traditional technologies
No wonder that project managers and IT departments feel and processes towards software-driven approaches.
unable to cope with the challenges on their own. We propose a What is different today is the speed and impact of how
panel in order to look into the role of requirements engineering software fundamentally changes, disrupts, and creates
in making digital transformations successful. It will address industries, business models, and sources of competitive
process, culture and technology dimensions. advantage. Software is the thread that stitches together what
Index Terms– Digital transformation, Requirements
we call the “digital economy” a digital environment that
Engineering, Software Industry.
enables virtual communities, seamless business processes,
open and fast-changing market places, sharing eco-systems
I. INTRODUCTION: MOTIVATION AND OBJECTIVES and the ability to use big data and connect and engage with
Markets, professions and our society as a whole are customers anywhere and at any time.
facing a fast and radical change due to the maturation of Changing value chains and production processes as well
digital technologies and their ubiquitous penetration of as new business models and innovative IT and software
practically all industry domains and markets. These systems need to be developed and operated in even shorter
technologies range from those in the visible and tangible time frames. Not all stakeholders and companies are
world, such as robots and digital imaging equipment, to prepared for these rapid changes. And not all software and
those that are intangible or invisible, such as connected IT disciplines and education programs are really considering
micro devices and advanced pattern recognition and the underlying methodological disrupts. Efficiency and
artificial intelligence software [1]. complexity are seen as major threats [1,3]. No wonder that
Products and services will increasingly augment and project managers and IT departments often feel unable to
integrate the real world with the digital world. This digital cope with the challenges on their own. This holds
transformation has reached all business areas. Companies – specifically for requirements engineering, the discipline
and their customers – expect to obtain innovation, market closest to the application domains and user needs, while at
penetration, cost reductions and more flexibility [1,2]. The the same time the discipline with most interfaces and rather
reported trends in industry are the full digitization of imprecise artefacts along the IT value stream.
companies, the complete redesign of products and services, We propose a discussion panel in order to look into how
and the establishment of closer interactions with customers requirements engineering as a discipline is impacted by the
and suppliers. digital transformation – and how improved requirements
The digital transformation has reached all business reengineering will help companies succeed in their digital
areas. Digital offers and services are increasing and change innovations and transformations. It will address process,
not only our behaviors as consumers and society, such as culture and technology dimensions:
communication, shopping, entertainment or health. It also • Stakeholders: All stakeholders (people directly
impacts the way we are doing business and how we improve interacting with a system; people that are affected by the
our business processes in companies. Fig. 1 illustrates that it system; people that perceive itself to be affected by a
is not digitization per se, as we have seen it for decades of decision, activity, or outcome) must be involved with
IT, but rather the flexible and ubiquitous configuration of the digital transformation.
products, digitization and services which create value. • Value: Value creation and new business and user
requirements have to be elicited over iterations to evoke

2332-6441/16 $31.00 © 2016 IEEE 4

DOI 10.1109/RE.2016.21 RE 2016, Beijing, China
Panel Summary
 implicit knowledge, user needs, and business rationales. II. PANEL FORMAT AND STRUCTURE
Business requirements have to be synchronized with The panel will involve researchers and practitioners in
organizational business goals along the value stream. order to discuss the impact and relationship of RE and
• Requirements: Dependencies of functionalities have to digital transformation with industry and research. The panel
be identified in advance to allow an appropriate is expected to run for nearly 60 minutes, divided into
interaction and user experience. Quality requirements, rounds, each of which clearly indicated and guided by the
specifically security, usability and performance have to projection of a single theme slide. Each of the rounds is
be specified and consistently implemented. described in more detail below:
• Processes: Workflows, services, connectivity needs and
users’ tasks have to be elicited properly as the system 1) Introduction (10 minutes): The participants (panelists
represents a tool to support the users in fulfillment of and organizers) briefly introduce themselves, by providing
their tasks and goals. their affiliation and background, as well as their overall
• Architecture: Consistency over the user interface views on the subject.
objects have to be ensured using reusable software 2) Experiences and Critical Success Factors (20 minutes):
components. The systems’ architecture has to be as The panelists are asked to describe their experiences with
flexible as possible to react on changed as well as on digital transformation and critical success factors.
new added requirements. 3) RE challenges and resolutions in digital
• Validation. Software functionalities have to be validated transformation (2 minutes): Panelists are requested to
using simulations, models and prototypes as early as comment on the effectiveness of RE methods and on their
possible. possible connection in making digital transformations
• Integration: Usability and human factors are an successful.
integrated aspect of a software engineering method 4) Closing session (10 minutes): The organizers allow the
rather than be a parallel activity. audience to present remaining questions and comments.
• Continuity: Business continuity and risk mitigation, Finally the panel will be closed with an outlook on what we
such as in case of cyber-attacks or fast changing learned.
business climate need to be anticipated and implemented
in the underlying IT infrastructure. III. ORGANIZERS AND PANELISTS
We expect to have four panelists in order to ensure an
interesting debate during the panel. The invited panelists
will have a background in Requirements Engineering and
experience with Digital Transformation across industries.
We will choose half of the panelists to be working mainly in
industry and half working mainly as researchers.
The panel organizers have experience from both
industrial practice and research. Their background will be
used to facilitate the discussions and moderate the debate
Fig.1: Customer value is created by products, during the panel.
digitization and services – in flexible configurations ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Requirements Engineering Conference, which We thank in advance the panelists and participants of RE
involves researchers and practitioners with diverse 2016 for sharing with us their past experiences and opinions.
backgrounds from different parts of the world is the ideal REFERENCES
forum to discuss the growing impact of RE on the digital
transformation – and vice versa. [1] Ebert, C.: Looking into the Future. IEEE Software. ISSN:
Specific questions to be addressed by the panel include: 0740-7459, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 92-97, Nov. 2015.
What are the pivotal needs of the digital transformation [2] Geissbauer, R., J.Vedso and S.Schrauf. A Strategist's
towards requirements engineering from elicitation to Guide to Industry 4.0. Strategy+Business 83:148-163. Price
validation? Are there relevant past experiences that would Watterhouse Coopers. June 2016.
enable widespread dissemination? Which stages of the [3] Vector Consulting, 2016. Vector Client Survey 2015
software technology life cycle are covered? What are the http:/www.vector.com/trends.
major thresholds to overcome? What are the recurring
success factors? How does digital transformation affect the Christof Ebert is managing director at Vector Consulting
chance of success of a project? Services headquartered in Germany.
Carlos Henrique Cabral Duarte is a Member of Technical
Staff at the National Bank of Social and Economic
Development (BNDES) in Brazil.