Software Engineering Institute

Abstract

Abstract The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center situated as a college‐level unit at Carnegie Mellon University with facilities in Pittsburgh, PA and Arlington, VA. The SEI was created in 1984 by the U.S. Department of Defense to mature and transition new technology to industry so that the government could acquire software‐intensive systems from a broader, more capable contractor base. The SEI works to transform software engineering from an ad‐hoc, labor‐intensive activity to a managed, technology‐supported engineering discipline. The SEI's objectives are to accelerate the introduction and widespread use of high‐payoff software engineering practices and technology by identifying, evaluating, and maturing promising or underused technology and practices; maintain a long‐term competency in software engineering and technology transition; enable government and industry organizations to make measured improvements in their software engineering practices by working with them directly; and foster the adoption and sustained use of standards of excellence for software engineering practice. The institute explores promising solutions to potentially significant problems, selects the best candidate solutions, and works on them to determine their value. In some cases, the SEI works to overcome the limitations that prevent a solution from being of general use in the software community. Finally, the SEI moves mature solutions of proven value into widespread use; examples include the Capability Maturity Model® for Software (SW‐CMM®), and a model curriculum for a master's degree program in software engineering that has been adopted by universties across the country. SEI activities are grouped into two principal areas: software engineering management practices and software engineering technical practices.