CertiA360: Enhance Compliance Agility in Aerospace Software Development

Agile methods are characterised by iterative and incremental processes with a strong focus on flexibility and accommodating changing requirements based on either technical, regulatory, or stakeholder feedback. However, integrating Agile methods into safety-critical system development in the aerospace industry presents substantial challenges due to its strict compliance requirements, such as those outlined in the DO-178C standard. To achieve this vision, the flexibility of Agile must align with the rigorous certification guidelines, which emphasize documentation, traceability of requirements across different levels and disciplines, and comprehensive verification and validation (V&V) activities. The research work described in this paper proposes a way of using the strengths of the flexible nature of Agile methods to automate and manage change requests throughout the whole software development lifecycle, ensuring robust traceability, regulatory compliance and ultimately facilitating successful certification. This study proposes CertiA360, a tool designed to help teams improve requirement maturity, automate the changes in traceability, and align with the regulatory objectives. The tool was designed and validated in close collaboration with aerospace industry experts, using their feedback to ensure practical application and real-life effectiveness. The feedback collected demonstrated that the automation given by CertiA360 may reduce manual effort and allow response to changing requirements while ensuring compliance with DO-178C. While the tool is not yet qualified under DO-330 (Tool Qualification), findings suggest that when tailored appropriately, Agile methods can not only coexist with the requirements of safety-system development and certification in highly regulated domains like aerospace, but also add efficiency.