INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook Version 4: Updating the Reference for Practitioners

The objective of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Systems Engineering Handbook (SEH) is to describe key process activities performed by systems engineers and other engineering professionals throughout the life cycle of a system. It also describes a wide range of fundamental system concepts that broaden the thinking of the systems engineering practitioner, such as system thinking, system science, life cycle management, specialty engineering, system-of-systems, and complex systems. This handbook defines the discipline and practice of systems engineering for students and practicing professionals alike, providing an authoritative reference that is acknowledged world-wide. This paper provides an overview of the SEH Version 4 that was released in 2015. It describes the overall impetus for change, highlights changes from the previous versions, and describes the new content added for this version. The primary purpose of this paper is to inform the systems engineering community of the changes incorporated into SEH Version 4. Copyright © 2015 by Walden, Roedler, and Forsberg. Published and used by INCOSE with permission.