The Digital Engineering (DE) Basic Principles tutorial will provide an exclusive overview of foundational terms and concepts associated with DE development and application in the Department of Defense (DoD).  During the session, attendees will become familiar with (a) DE terminology and concepts, (b) DE technology, architectures and standards and their role in enabling key functions, (c) the processes for developing valid models and simulations, or an “authoritative source of truth,” that captures the current state and history of a system’s technical baseline, and (d) the supporting DE ecosystem. Attendees will also be introduced to emerging DE methods in the DoD that support product development activities, including training development and delivery, organizational change management, DoD acquisition support, and other areas that directly support the warfighter. Furthermore, this tutorial will identify key policies, procedures, and guidance, that emphasize the importance of Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) to ensure models meet user requirements, and the curation of those models may be trusted for use and reuse.

This tutorial will explore the characteristics and associated challenges of DE use in Test and Evaluation, Autonomy, Mission Engineering, DoD Research and Development/Acquisition and Manufacturing. It also highlights the key role DE plays in developing capabilities that support training, maintenance, and DoD operations.  The tutorial will describe accessible DoD DE information resources and explain the role of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E)) and Modeling and Simulation (M&S) support to the engineering and acquisition Enterprise, which is the focal point of DoD DE and M&S information, practice, technology, and functional use.

The target audience for this tutorial are M&S professionals that work in various domains that may find utilization of their capability in another manner. Upon completion of this tutorial, the participant will better understand DE fundamentals that will contribute to their DE journey. Learners will further their knowledge of key terms and concepts and how they are being applied.  The tutorial will also aid learners in driving DE principles and practices that will drive digital transformation initiatives within their own organizations.

Keywords
ACQUISITION MODELS;BEST PRACTICES;COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE;DATA;DECISION;INTEGRATION;M&S;MODELING

Additional Keywords
Digital Engineering, Digital Thread, Digital Twin, Digital Artifact, Authoritative Source of Truth, Digital Engineering Ecosystem, Model Based Systems Engineering, Modeling, Simulation, Model Management