David Ward

TMC Europe

Certification, Conformity and Guidance of SWE and SE
Professionals A comparison between INCOSE SEP Certification
and ISO24773

Bio.

David Ward joined TMC in 2020. He is an INCOSE ESEP and works as a SE Professional and Evangelist with over 100+ publications, including 4 book chapters covering topics from Engineering to Luxury Products and more recently, two books on Systems Engineering with Alessandro Pinzauti. By trade he is a Mechanical Engineer with a PhD in fluid Mechanics. From 2020-2021 he was the INCOSE AISE vice-president and is currently AISE Director for Training. He is also member of the Certification Advisory Group for INCOSE. In 2019 he set-up the AISE Interest Group for Systems Thinking and Design Thinking. He was also AISE’s PoC for INCOSE’s 2035 Vision and reviewer for INCOSE Handbook V5.0. His recent endeavours include: • SySTEAM in technical colleges in Italy; • Ideator and trainer of the TMC SEPD programs; • SE and SEP certification trainer; • Author of TMC SE guides and SED talks; • Ideator of the TMC SE and SEP clinic; • SE Project work in diverse fields from surgical robots to railways, from systems architecture to SE process tailoring.

Abstract.

As modern systems increase in complexity, establishing and
validating the competence of systems engineering (SE) and
software engineering (SWE) professionals has become
paramount. This paper evaluates the structural relationship
between the internationally recognized INCOSE Systems
Engineering Professional (SEP) certification program and
the ISO/IEC 24773 multi-part standards series. Anchored by
the conformity assessment framework of ISO/IEC 17024, the
ISO/IEC 24773 series establishes comprehensive requirements
for professional certification schemes.
This study contrasts institutionalized, generalist
certification models (such as INCOSE SEP) against
customized, in-house programs derived from the 24773
frameworks. It examines key factors including
cost-effectiveness, domain-specific tailoring,
standardization, and organizational agility. Furthermore,
the paper investigates critical contemporary gaps
underrepresented in current standards, such as the
fragmentation of engineering data landscapes,
micro-credentials, and the rapid integration of artificial
intelligence (AI), cyber-physical systems, and autonomous
architectures. Ultimately, a strategic roadmap is provided
for organizations determining whether to adopt a globalized
certification paradigm or cultivate proprietary,
standard-compliant educational and training tracks.