Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Podcast Series

Latest Episodes:

Enabling Transition From Sustainment to Engineering Within the DoD Nov 03, 2021

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Organic software sustainment organizations within the Department of Defense are expanding beyond their traditional purview of software maintenance into software engineering and development. Instead of repairing and maintaining legacy software in already deployed systems, software sustainment teams must now shift to designing and implementing new software architectures and code. Unfortunately, many of these sustainment teams are taking on these new responsibilities without proper guidance and an understanding of the people, process, and technology issues that must first be addressed in these new roles. In this podcast, Thomas Evans, a senior software architect at the SEI, and Douglas C. Schmidt, associate provost of research at Vanderbilt University and former chief technical officer at the SEI, discuss the challenges that software sustainment teams face while making this transition and strategies for success.

The Silver Thread of Cyber in the Global Supply Chain Oct 25, 2021

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The global supply chain touches every aspect of our lives, from fuel prices to the availability of computer chips and supermarket products. In out latest podcast, Matt Butkovic, technical director of risk and resilience at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, discusses with Suzanne Miller the supply chain's silver thread of cyber, specifically how cyber both underpins the cyber supply chain and the broader supply chain. Butkovic's team recently engaged with the World Economic Forum to create an online transformation map, a set of connected topics defining a specific domain of interest. In this episode, Butkovic also discusses work on this map, the importance of cyber resilience, and how to determine the resilience your organization needs and the resilience it currently possesses.

Measuring DevSecOps: The Way Forward Oct 15, 2021

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In this SEI Podcast, Bill Nichols and Hasan Yasar, both with the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, discuss DevSecOps metrics with Suzanne Miller. DevSecOps practices, made possible by improvements in underlying technology that automate the development-to-production pipeline, can generate more information about development and operational performance than has ever been readily available before. Nichols and Yasar discuss the ways in which DevSecOps practices yield valuable information about software performance that is likely to lead to innovations in software engineering metrics.

Bias in AI: Impact, Challenges, and Opportunities Sep 23, 2021

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In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, Carol Smith, a senior research scientist in human-machine interaction, and Jonathan Spring, a senior vulnerability researcher, discuss the hidden sources of bias in artificial intelligence (AI) systems and how systems developers can raise their awareness of bias, mitigate consequences, and reduce risks.

Agile Strategic Planning: Concepts and Methods for Success Sep 09, 2021

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The rapid pace of change in software development, in business, and in the world has many organizations struggling to execute daily operations, wrangle big projects, and feel confident that there is a long-term strategy at play. Incorporating agile principles into strategic planning and execution is a highly effective way to drive strategy development, strategy execution, data-driven decision making, and results. In this SEI Podcast, Linda Parker Gates, initiative lead, Software Acquisition Pathways, and Suzanne Miller, principal researcher in the SEI's Software Solutions Division, discuss the principles of Agile Strategic Planning and methods for success.

Applying Scientific Methods in Cybersecurity Aug 24, 2021

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In this SEI Podcast, Dr. Leigh Metcalf and Dr. Jonathan Spring, both researchers with the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute's CERT Division, discuss the application of scientific methods to cybersecurity. As described in their recently published book, Using Science in Cybersecurity, Metcalf and Spring describe a common-sense approach and practical tools for applying scientific rigor to the field of cybersecurity.

Zero Trust Adoption: Benefits, Applications, and Resources Aug 13, 2021

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Zero trust adoption is a security initiative that an enterprise must understand, interpret, and implement. Enterprise security initiatives are never simple, and their goal to improve cybersecurity posture requires the alignment of multiple stakeholders, systems, acquisitions, and exponentially changing technology. This alignment is always a complex undertaking and requires cybersecurity strategy and engineering to succeed. In this SEI Podcast, Geoff Sanders, a senior network defense analyst in the CERT Division at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, discusses zero trust adoption and its benefits, applications, and available resources.

Uncertainty Quantification in Machine Learning: Measuring Confidence in Predictions Aug 06, 2021

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In this SEI Podcast, Dr. Eric Heim, a senior machine learning research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute (SEI), discusses the quantification of uncertainty in machine-learning (ML) systems. ML systems can make wrong predictions and give inaccurate estimates for the uncertainty of their predictions. It can be difficult to predict when their predictions will be wrong. Heim also discusses new techniques to quantify uncertainty, identify causes of uncertainty, and efficiently update ML models to reduce uncertainty in their predictions. The work of Heim and colleagues at the SEI Emerging Technology Center closes the gap between the scientific and mathematical advances from the ML research community and the practitioners who use the systems in real-life contexts, such as software engineers, software developers, data scientists, and system developers.

11 Rules for Ensuring a Security Model with AADL and Bell–LaPadula Jul 29, 2021

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In this SEI Podcast, Aaron Greenhouse, a senior architecture researcher with Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, talks with principal researcher Suzanne Miller about use of the Bell–LaPadula mathematical security model in concert with the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) to model and validate confidentiality. Greenhouse and Miller also discuss 11 analysis rules that must be enforced over an AADL instance to ensure the consistency of a security model. Mapping Bell–LaPadula to AADL allows the expression of key concepts within the AADL model so that they can be analyzed automatically.

Benefits and Challenges of Model-Based Systems Engineering Jul 23, 2021

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Nataliya (Natasha) Shevchenko and Mary Popeck, both senior researchers in the CERT Division at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, discuss the use of model-based systems engineering (MBSE), which, in contrast to document-centric engineering, puts models at the center of system design. MBSE is used to support the requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation associated with the development of complex systems.

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