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BACKGROUND

Developing, creating or evolving systems of systems (SOSs) present significant systems engineering and management problems. Dahmann and Baldwin characterize these problems as stakeholder involvement, governance, operational focus, acquisition, test and evaluation, boundaries and interfaces, and performance and behavior [1]. All systems face some of these problems, but the uniqueness of the dynamics and resulting communication issues in a SoS require a significant ability for adaptation within the system development community, as well as among the stakeholders. The principles for addressing these issues are no different from those required for any good systems engineering and development activity [2]. Implementation of those principles in SoS environments, however, is a much thornier problem. Agile and lean philosophies have shown to be effective in supporting adaptation within development and evolution [3],[4],[5]. Complicated, large systems of systems in rapid or continuous deployment environments, where requirements are not precise and can change or emerge quickly, find traditional approaches inadequate. In 2011, the Systems Engineering Research Center began to investigate alternative management and governance approaches for these complex environments, including a concept for an integrated multi-level network of pull scheduling systems based on explicit, transparent, and continuously updated value of work [6],[7],[8]. This Kanban-based Scheduling System Network (KSSN) concept was developed based on the following capabilities:• Coordinate multiple levels of development activity across …