Proceedings of the
The 33rd European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL 2023)
3 – 8 September 2023, Southampton, UK
Plenary Talk
Early and effective safety/cybersecurity analysis – getting started with STPA
VP Americas/EMEA, at VWAY Corporation
Abstract
As safety and cybersecurity issues continue to surface, the methods used to design, develop, and operate safe & secure systems are evolving rapidly. STAMP and STPA are part of that change. Design failures continue to occur (at pace), despite the resultant systems having been thoroughly tested and validated. Conventional safety system approaches have proven to be incomplete. How can teams meet the needs of increasingly complex and autonomous software-enabled systems that must factor-in human interaction? Reliability engineering models and methods are no longer considered the principal or sole contributors to the safe operation of safety-critical and mission-critical systems. As the separation between engineering design and the organizations that deploy and operate these designs is being erased, a new paradigm is taking shape. STAMP and STPA are at the heart of that – as we discuss the belief that safety and security are really control problems, this session will also introduce the latest effective tooling framework to support this paradigm shift.
Biography
Stephen has over 30 years' experience in software product development, from deeply embedded safetycritical systems to large scale industrial operations. Currently focused on enabling improvements in the safe and (cyber) secure operation of complex systems in zero-emission smart-transportation, cleanenergy production, and `patient-outcome driven' health solutions. Key to meeting this objective is providing design, development, and deployment tools needed to orchestrate operations, methods, and processes amongst relevant stakeholders. STPA has emerged as the new paradigm that underpins these efforts, helping innovators deliver safer, cleaner, and more secure solutions.
Stephen is a scale-up expert, having assisted many software product companies including Polarion (acquired by Siemens in 2016), Jama Software (acquired by Insight Partners in 2018) and more recently assisting Intland Codebeamer SDC, (Intland were acquired by PTC, 2022). In earlier years at Wind River (pre/post IPO), he led global activities in the instrumentation, communications, and controls sector; as well as having successfully founded, grown and divested several private companies along the way.
