DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGHER-ORDER META MODEL FOR SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

EACH PHASE OF THE DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE IS IMPORTANT AND THE PRODUCTS OF EACH ARE ESSENTIAL FOR A SUCCESSFUL SYSTEM. HOWEVER, DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS ARE PHASE-SPECIFIC AND DO NOT COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER. WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE CASE BECAUSE DEVELOPERS HAVE NOT YET DISCOVERED A UNIFYING CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF INFORMATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CONSTRUCTS APPLICABLE TO THE WHOLE LIFE CYCLE. WE PROPOSE TO SURVEY CURRENT TECHNOLOGY FOR ALL LIFE CYCLE PHASES, FORMULATE AN INTEGRATED CONCEPTUAL MODEL, INDICATE THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CONSTRUCTS IN THE INDIVIDUAL PHASES, DEMONSTRATE HOW CURRENT TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS RELATE TO THIS INTEGRATED CONCEPTUAL MODEL, AND ESTABLISH SPECIFICATIONS FOR AN INFORMATION REPOSITORY BASED ON THIS INTEGRATED CONCEPTUAL MODEL. ACHIEVEMENT OF THESE OBJECTIVES WILL ENABLE NSWC TO DEMONSTRATE HOW THE COMPLETE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE CAN BE ADDRESSED, HOW DIFFERENT SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS FROM VARIOUS VENDORS CAN BE INTEGRATED, AND HOW TO REPRESENT EACH DEVELOPMENT PHASE, MAKE TRANSITIONS FROM ONE PHASE TO THE NEXT, AND MAINTAIN TRACEABILITY BETWEEN PHASES.