Profile

The Australian Safety Critical Systems Association (aSCSa) is a nonprofit organisation established to promote the co-operation ofacademic, industrial, commercial and governmental organisations inrelation to the practice and advancement of safety-related systems, inparticular those systems containing software, in Australia.

The activities of the Association are directed towards providingnational leadership, facilitation and the co-ordination of professionalAssociation activities, and encouraging member contribution relating tosafety-related systems, particularly those containing software.

Background

Computer systems and embedded computers pervade all aspects of modern dailylife, and many implement functions that have the potential to cause death or injury ifthey do not operate correctly. Some of these systems include emergency servicedispatch, car braking, aircraft flight controls, railway control and telecommunicationssystems. These systems are not safe by accident but require safety to be designedinto them.

The Australian Computer Society was established in 1966 as a result of the mergerof then existing State based computer societies. It has become the recognisedassociation for IT professionals, attracting a large and active membership from alllevels of the IT industry, and providing a wide range of services and opportunities fornetworking and career enhancement.

The Technical Committee on Safety Critical Systems was established in 1992 toprovide policy and technical advice to the ACS in matters of safety for computerbasedsystems and since 1996, has conducted an annual workshop, the AustralianWorkshop on Industrial Experience with Safety Critical Systems and Software.

Computer systems and embedded computers pervade all aspects of modern dailylife, and many implement functions that have the potential to cause death or injury ifthey do not operate correctly. Some of these systems include emergency servicedispatch, car braking, aircraft flight controls, railway control and telecommunicationssystems. These systems are not safe by accident but require safety to be designedinto them.

The Australian Computer Society was established in 1966 as a result of the mergerof then existing State based computer societies. It has become the recognisedassociation for IT professionals, attracting a large and active membership from alllevels of the IT industry, and providing a wide range of services and opportunities fornetworking and career enhancement.

The Technical Committee on Safety Critical Systems was established in 1992 toprovide policy and technical advice to the ACS in matters of safety for computerbasedsystems and since 1996, has conducted an annual workshop, the AustralianWorkshop on Industrial Experience with Safety Critical Systems and Software.

Then in October 2002, in conjunction with the annual workshop being held inAdelaide, the Technical Committee on Safety Critical Systems launched theAustralian Safety Critical Systems Club (aSCSc) as a means to perhaps sustain anddevelop the awareness of the issues being presented at the workshops.

Chapter launches were also held in Perth on the 10th October 2002, Melbourne onthe 21st October 2002, Canberra on the 25th March 2003, Sydney on the 1st July2003 and Brisbane on the 26th August 2003.

Then, at the AGM held at the 2005 workshop, it was agreed that the we wouldchange our name from the Australian Safety Critical Systems Club to the AustralianSafety Critical Systems Association (aSCSa).

Mission Statement

Raise the awareness of the engineering and wider community of the safety issuesspecific to software-intensive systems and to provide leadership and guidance.

Purpose

Specifically, the aSCSa's purpose is to:

• Provide a national focus and forum for its members who have an interest in safety related systems, particularly those systems containing software.
• Provide professional services for all categories of its membership.
• Stimulate the active contribution and participation of its members in the development and dissemination of safety-related systems knowledge and to support the activities of the Society.
• Foster and support education and training associated with all aspects of safety related systems.
• To provide learned society functions for individuals and industry groups and to provide practice based opinion and advice for the Society.