What is the Software Engineering Institute?
Founded in 1984, the Software Engineering Institute, or SEI as it is more-commonly known, is a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, the SEIs mission is to help DoD agencies, other government agencies and industry improve their software engineering and acquisition capabilities. What is an Independent Technical Assessment (ITA)? An Independent Technical Assessment, or ITA, is an objective examination of a project or program conducted by outside experts. As an FFRDC located at a major university, the SEI is fiercely protective of its credibility and neutrality in conducting these types of assessments. Because of our objectivity, senior military and civil agency executives often request we assess their software-intensive programs. To do this, we form a team with the appropriate mix of expertise drawn from across the Institute. We gather information through interviews, fact-finding visits to facilities, reviews of designs and
