A Framework for Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Digital Engineering: A Systems Approach

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Whitehead, N. Peter

Contributor:

Light, T. (Thomas)

Luna, Adrian

Mignano, Jim

Language:

English

Other Title:

Framework for Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Digital Engineering

Place of Publication:

RAND Corporation 2024

Summary:

RAND researchers worked to understand the costs and benefits of digital engineering in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and develop a decision support framework for digital engineering activities in weapon system programs. To prepare, the authors reviewed the literature and interviewed stakeholders to understand the current state of digital engineering practice and prior efforts to assess the costs and benefits of digital engineering and model-based systems engineering. They then developed decision support frameworks incorporating (1) established DoD cost-benefit analysis approaches and (2) established systems engineering decision methodologies. Along the way, the authors noted critical issues with rigor and risks in the practice of DoD digital engineering and added that aspect to the study. This research suggests that cost-benefit decision support for digital engineering is possible at any stage of a weapon system program life cycle if program data have been collected accordingly or if goal-based systems engineering principles are leveraged. Calculating definitive costs and benefits of digital engineering is imperfect because no analyst will have access to an identical weapon system program developed without digital engineering — the counterfactual scenario.