Thoughts from the DO-178C committee

This paper describes the author's experience of participating in the committee that is preparing DO-178C/ED-12C. The paper describes how the committee is organised, and the voting rules that decide the content of the final document. The process that created DO-178B/ED-12B and now DO-178C/ED-12C is compared with the process that created Defence Standard 00-55. The differing histories of DO-178B/ED-12B and Defence Standard 00-55 raises many questions about how safety-related standards are best developed. Should future standards be evidence-based, objective-based or prescriptive? Should standards be aspirational or consensus-based? Should they be developed by large teams, ensuring that all points of view are considered, or by small teams, ensuring coherence? These questions are particularly topical, given that the UK Ministry of Defence is currently considering the future direction of Defence Standard 00-56, the defence standard for system safety. The author hopes that sharing his experience of participating in the development of DO-178C/ED-12C will encourage readers to think about these issues.