The technical standard developer IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has chosen VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland – Northern Europe’s biggest contract research organisation – to lead an international committee for the standardisation of agile software methods.
The committee will make recommendations on how to apply agile methods in software acquisitions. Agile methodologies are based on short cycles, and combine a business- and customer-centred approach. Agile development methods have revolutionised the software industry, and can be used in a variety of applications, from gaming to safety systems.
VTT’s Research Professor Pekka Abrahamsson, chairman of the standardisation committee, says: “VTT has studied agile methods since 2002 and its research results and European cooperation networks were enough to convince the IEEE. The standardisation work must be done quickly due to the pressing global interest in the methods. The IEEE is expecting a complete proposal on the recommended practices before the summer of 2009.”
Experts at Philips, ABB, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, F-Secure, Reaktor Innovations and EB (Elektrobit) have been invited to join the standardisation committee, which will include experts from all around the world.
The European participants come from a project known as FLEXI, which develops agile methods solutions for product development projects. In Finland, the project is funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, Tekes.
On 29 October 2008, the Agile Finland Association and FLEXI project will hold the Scandinavian Agile Conference. There, experts will demonstrate the use of agile methods in various application environments, and VTT’s Pekka Abrahamsson will introduce the objectives of and schedule for the standardisation project.
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