How INCOSE's Certification Program has Evolved as a System of Systems

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Certification program began as a subsystem of INCOSE, with only a few external entities involved. The majority of the required capabilities were carried out internally, such testing based on the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook. Many capabilities have since been outsourced to independent external agencies such as psychometricians and certificate providers to gain flexibility and simplify operations. As a result, the INCOSE certification program evolved from an INCOSE subsystem to a System of Systems (SoS) with component systems such as universities, exam providers, training providers, and local chapters. This paper discusses the characteristics and challenges of the INCOSE Certification program as a System of Systems, the type of a SoS that best suits the certification program, change management of the certification program, learnings from managing the certification program as a System of Systems, the System of Systems engineering application to the certification programs, and critical problems involved in the certification program's operation and management. Copyright © 2023 by Courtney Wright, and Mrunmayi Joshi. Permission granted to INCOSE to publish and use.