Article by: Bill Waite mailto:BWaite@AEgisTG.com
“Quick Watson, get dressed, the (simulation professional
certification) game’s afoot!” - So might Sherlock Holmes rouse his
colleague Dr. Watson to apprise him of one of the most significant
initiatives in the evolution of the modeling and simulation profession.
The following excerpts are from the December 2000 “Modeling and
Simulation Professional Certification Implementation Plan – DRAFT”
document. This document is being prepared by the newly formed Modeling
and Simulation Professional Certification Implementation Group to
identify just such a prospect.
Circumstance
“The
modeling and simulation profession, industry and market are relatively
immature - lacking the apparent identity, unity, and perceptible
coherency of associated domains such as computational science, systems
engineering, and training delivery. This lack of identity and the
associated fragmentation and insularity of the evolving modeling and
simulation industry is pejorative to the development and application of
modeling and simulation technologies and practices which are otherwise
intrinsically both powerful and versatile.”
“In particular, the
fact that there is no generally accepted specification of the
qualifications or functional competencies inherent in modeling and
simulation and no form of formal certification of members of the cadre
of professional practitioners of modeling and simulation inhibits the
development of the profession and the industry. On the one hand, the
lack of evidence of requirements for professional competency makes the
establishment and delivery of programs of professional education by both
academic and commercial organizations difficult. On the other hand, lack
of availability of metrics and standards for functional competency makes
labor market transactions inefficient for both buyers and sellers of
professional services.”
Response and Intention
“[An]
Implementation Program [has been] conceived in response to the
perception of requirement and opportunity. It is intended to establish
organizations and processes whereby individual personal professional
certification for the modeling and simulation industry may be dependably
conducted.”
“The Modeling and Simulation Professional
Certification Implementation Group is the organization that was formed
to define and execute the subject Implementation Program
“[The
Implementation] Plan is the specification of the implementation
program-of-work considered necessary and sufficient to establish an
initial operational certification capability for clear and useful
certification of simulation professionals by June 2001.”
Opportunity for simulation certification
“Several
circumstances have combined to stimulate the perception of the need for
certification of simulation professionals These factors include:
- the recent accelerated activity in the formation of intuitional
venues focused on the modeling and simulation professional and
industrial agenda;
- the apparent desirability of establishing the identity and
integrity of the simulation industry of which the formal
identification of a professional cadre is a component…;
- discussions among representatives of various professional
societies [including SISO!] as to the advisability and feasibility of
such a course of action; and
- evidence that several elements of the simulation professional
constituency were addressing the concept independently – suggesting
that this is an idea ‘whose time has come’ and for which a natural
acceptance is naturally evolving.”
The Path to
Action
“The state of need and opportunity for simulation
professional certification has matured to such a degree as to motivate
action to implement such a practice. Initial consideration of deliberate
collaborative action was undertaken by NTSA in the Fall of 1999. RADM
Fred Lewis, Executive Director of the National Training Systems
Association (NTSA) disclosed these seminal ideas in his Keynote Address
to the Summer Computer Simulation Conference (SCSC 2000), sponsored by
the Society for Computer Simulation (SCS) in July of 2000. The topic was
consequently included in discussions between SISO and SCS at the
Simulation Interoperability Workshop (SIW) in Orlando in October 2000.”
“Subsequent discussions, including a working meeting on the 18th
of September 2000 at the Institute for Simulation and Training (IST) at
the University of Central Florida (UCF), which included representatives
from a variety of academic, Government, industrial, and professional
organizations (including SISO!) served to crystallize preliminary
notions and to begin to build a constituency of interested individuals
and organizations. As a result of that first working meeting, a sense of
urgency to pursue this investment in the modeling and simulation
profession was clear. The ad hoc working group continued discussions
during the Inter-service/ Industry Training, Simulation and Education
Conference (I/ITSEC) held in Orlando, FL. on 27 – 30 November, 2000.”
“Consequent to those working meetings, it was resolved to
establish the Modeling and Simulation Professional Certification
Implementation Working Group organization in order to systematically
define and execute a program of activity that would culminate in an
initial operational capability of a Modeling and Simulation Professional
Certification Board and the beginning of effective certification of
simulation professionals. Accordingly, The goal of establishing the
operational Modeling and Simulation Professional Program within 6 months
(1 June 2000) was announced in the Host’s Comments to the meeting
plenary at the opening of the I/ITSEC conference.”
“Finally, the
commitment to proceed was briefed at a meeting which included invited
representatives of the NTSA, SCS, and SISO professional societies, the
DoD M&S corporate management infrastructure, the military services’
modeling and simulation management offices, and the UK MOD Synthetic
Environment Coordination Office, who were invited to participate in the
effort. At that meeting, tasking was established to establish a DRAFT
version of a Program Plan document and to pursue actions associated with
a variety of topical issues which had been originally pursued by the ad
hoc working group and which thereafter would be subsumed into the scope
of the subject Implementation Plan.”
What’s the game? …wanna
play?
In short (…too late now?…), the train is moving on
Professional Certification for modeling and simulation! The long-term
vision is to develop and maintain an international Certification Program
for Simulation Professionals that recognizes standard levels of
knowledge and functional competency for certified professionals and the
industry. In more immediate and concrete terms, the objective of the
subject Implementation Program is to achieve satisfactory initial
operation of a Modeling and Simulation Professional Certification Board
in providing sustained certification of simulation professionals.
Notwithstanding the urgency and aggressive schedule of this
initiative, a variety of opportunities exist to participate and to
affect the outcome of these intentions. Naturally, the SISO leadership
will be involved on behalf of the membership. In that spirit, Harry
Thompson, Executive Director of SISO <hthompson@iitri.org>, who
attended recent meetings on behalf of the organization, will ‘carry the
flag’ for us in context. Dell Lunceford
<Wendell.Lunceford@HQDA.Army.Mil> and I
<BWaite@AEgisTG.com>are actively engaged in this Program and will
be interested to hear your views and glad to continue to provide updates
to you on the progress of this Modeling and Simulation Professional
Certification initiative. Dell and I are participating on behalf of the
SISO Executive Committee (EXCOM), and therefore the SISO membership
constituency,
Please feel free to communicate with Harry, Dell,
or me in order to express your views, and to keep in touch with this
most significant development in the evolution of the modeling and
simulation industry. You can also subscribe to the SIW-SIM-PRO
reflector!
|