Consistent safety objectives and COTS versus fragmented certification practises and good safety records: air transport dilemma in need of innovation

Air transport has evolved into a safe infrastructure due to a comprehensive set of safety standards covering all relevant aspects of flying. However, each standard has evolved independently and imposes specific, historically motivated, requirements that are not necessarily compatible. New challenges arise, such as punctuality and cost consciousness. General information technology trends, such as COTS and network-centric solutions, offer new opportunities to improve responsiveness and reduce time-to-market. The applicable air transport software safety standards for a specific integrated system are discussed. A comparison is made with software safety standards from the process, nuclear and medical industry, focussing on lessons-learned. The air transport case illustrates the need for and an opportunity to innovate software safety standardisation and certification and provides guidance for such standard innovation.