Automated support for text-based system assessment

Describes the need to explore and evaluate text descriptions of proposed computer-based systems, presents an approach for automated support for text-based system assessment, and reports on the use of this approach in support of system assessment for a complex multi-segment project: the Federal Bureau of Investigation´s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Text-based system assessment is a key to early discovery of issues and risk in system development. Text-based assessments encounter many challenges, particularly the high potential for ambiguity in English, but still have significant advantages.