Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) Leveraging International Initiatives

With the advent of complex coupled systems and the evolutionary introduction of new technology, the application of Modelling and Simulation (M&S) activities has increased throughout industry, academia and military domains. M&S has flourished as an enabling technology facilitating effective training opportunities from procedural training to full mission rehearsal and has been instrumental in helping decision makers take better account of the complexity, dynamics and uncertainties that pervade modern warfare. The application of M&S within the training domain brings with it an inherent risk associated with the danger of using erroneous or unsuitable models and simulation results. Verification and Validation (V&V) of models and simulations are intended to ensure that only correct and suitable results are used thereby facilitating risk management within the training domain. To address the complexities associated with VV&A, a coordinated effort among various international VV&A working groups such as: NATO Modelling and Simulation Group (NMSG) 19; Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO): Verification, Validation & Accreditation Overlay to Federation Development Product Development Group (PDG); REVVA 2; and SISO Generic Methodology for VV&A in the M&S domain has been formulated. This paper introduces the coordinated effort of these working groups and how they contribute to the understanding, formalization, and evaluation of the quality of training