Engineering teams around the world are experimenting new Agile approaches in their system development projects. In this keynote speech we will investigate the question on whether it is possible to effectively implement Agile frameworks, such as Scrum, in complex system developments including hardware, as opposed to (or complementary to) the well established systems engineering frameworks such as the systems engineering V-model.

Agile Scrum is a product development framework based around the idea of weekly sprints (iterations) and development of incrementally evolving Minimum Viable Products. Scrum is supposed to deliver products that are more adaptable to changing customer needs, and are developed faster compared to traditional development approaches.

Can the benefits of Scrum be transposed vis a vis to system development projects, including hardware? The short answer is – it depends, and not always. We will explore this question in depth, looking at the role of system development variables such as cost of iteration, time of iteration, and other key factors in the development.

This talk will provide a comprehensive overview of the research program that our team has been developing since 2018 on this topic, shedding light on the alleged benefits of Agile and providing for the first time a systematic investigation of its benefits when applied to complex engineering systems development.