Towards a Systems of Systems Engineering EU Strategic Research Agenda S.A. Henson, M.J.D. Henshaw, V. Barot, C.E. Siemieniuch, M.A. Sinclair SESEE, ESoS Group, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK. s.a.henson/m.j.d.henshaw/v.barot/c.e.siemieniuch/ m.a.sinclair@lboro.ac.uk M. Jamshidi Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Antonio, US. Mo.Jamshidi@utsa.edu H. Dogan, S.L. Lim, C. Ncube Software Systems Research Centre Bournemouth University, UK. hdogan/slim/cncube@bournemouth.ac.uk D. DeLaurentis Center for Integrated Systems in Aerospace, Purdue University, West Lafayette, US. ddelaure@purdue.edu Abstract – This paper presents the work undertaken so far in the formulation of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for research in Systems of Systems Engineering in the EU. The T-AREA-SoS project is introduced to provide a context, together with a section on Drivers for Change which the SRA needs to take into account. The strategy and process for the generation of the SRA is described, followed by details of outputs to date and the potential benefits it is believed would accrue from the implementation of the SRA. Keywords: Systems of Systems, Systems of System Engineering, strategic research agenda, global drivers, strategic research agenda process, strategic research agenda themes. 1 Introduction The T-AREA-SoS (Trans-Atlantic Research and Education Agenda in Systems of Systems) is a Support Action (project 287593); one of its objectives is to develop and deliver to the European Commission a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) in Systems of Systems Engineering (SoSE) that is of mutual interest to the European Union and the United States of America. This is done with the intention of creating opportunities for international collaboration in the emerging and essential discipline of Systems of Systems Engineering (SoSE). T- AREA-SoS is part of a wider initiative (ICT-2011.3.3) with an objective to increase the competitiveness of European industry and enable Europe to master and shape future developments in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) so that the future demands of its society and economy will be met. Competitiveness means, in this context, that Europe will be global leaders in SoSE, which will lead to greater Return on Investment (ROI) for European industry, greater innovation within the technical systems community in government, industry, and academia, and long-term economic sustainability of, and through, engineering of large complex systems. There were three other projects launched under ICT-2011.3.3 in the area of SoSE; these are DANSE [www.danse-ip.eu], COMPASS [www.compass-research.eu/], and ROAD2SoS [www.road2sos-project.eu]. While there are number of deliverables in the Support Action, this paper concentrates on the work undertaken to date to create a SRA that will create the environment for the development of concrete research initiatives to enhance existing research programmes and identify key research priorities and challenges to support the European Commission in its planning of Horizon 2020 (the next major multi-year EU investment in research and technology). It will underpin future exploitation opportunities by academia and industry in a range of commercial and industrial sectors of priority to the EU. The T-AREA-SoS project has taken an essentially top-down approach to the identification of research priorities. Although it looked across domains, it has had a particular focus on transport, manufacture, energy and IT domains, whilst ensuring that the significant advances in SoSE within the defence community is appropriately acknowledged. The project partners in T-AREA-SoS are Loughborough University (UK), Bournemouth University (UK), Purdue University (US) and the University of Texas at San Antonio (US). However, in line with the nature of support actions, the project has engaged a significant number of commercial, government, academic, and not-for- profit organizations in the formulation of the research agenda that is presented in this paper. 2 Drivers for Change This section discusses drivers instigated by changes to society and/or the environment that the SRA needs to take into account. These global drivers are extant and interconnected; research into SoS must generally address these in parallel and in some cases deal with conflicting requirements. In researching SoS(E) it will be important to consider how the global drivers should be properly accommodated in new approaches to design, operation, and disposal of systems in the context of SoS. As such, these drivers are a specific consideration in the generation of the 978-1-4673-5597-1/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE Proc. of the 2013 8th International Conference on System of Systems Engineering, Maui, Hawaii, USA - June 2-6, 2013 99