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AdaIC News
Brief 		Week Ending
February 16, 1996 

USE OF Ada IN MAJOR AUTOMATED INFORMATION SYSTEM PROGRAMS  
TO BE REPORTED BY PROGRAM MANAGERS

Beginning with the Fiscal Year 1996, Second Quarter, Major Automated Information System (MAIS) Status Report, program managers will provide information on key program and software development measures that support their program management process, this according to a memorandum from Anthony M. Valletta, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, dated January 5, 1996. One of the six measures to be addressed is, "Technical Adequacy - regarding software reuse, use of Ada for software development, and use of approved standard data elements." Other measures to be addressed are Schedule and Progress, Growth and Stability, Funding and Personal Resources, Product Quality, and Software Development Performance.

SOURCE:
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Memorandum. Anthony M. Valletta, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, C3I Acquisition. January 5, 1996 

Ada COURSES DEVELOPED UNDER DISA GRANT ARE SUCCESSFUL

An Ada course sequence was offered for the first time at the University of Illinois in Chicago and proved successful with both students and instructors. The two-semester course sequence was sponsored under DISA grant DCA100-94-0006 and included "Introduction to Software Engineering" and "Testing and Verification of Real-Time Software." The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science reported that Ada's emphasis on reliability is especially well-suited to software engineering classes because the goal of these classes is to teach methodologies and tools for the production of high-quality software.

The Defense Information Systems Agency, Center for Information Management(DISA/CIM) and the Defense Automation Resources Information Center (DARIC) Educational Institutions Partnership Program offer a program intended to help United States post-secondary educational institutions advance their capability to provide a highly qualified software engineering work force into the 21st century. Of particular interest is the development of curricula, courses and course materials that focus on the effective use of the Ada programming language in traditional computer science, business, engineering, information management and related curricula, or programs that emphasize the use of the features of Ada 95 to encourage better software engineering and software reuse. For more information on grants offered by DISA, contact the AdaIC at 1-800/232-4211.

SOURCE:
Ugo Buy, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, 851 South Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60607. and Ada Information Clearinghouse, Ada Joint Program Office. 

Ada FACTORS DISCUSSED IN THE USE OF COTS SOFTWARE

At the Software Productivity Consortium's third annual Executive Round Table, senior executives from the Consortium's membership, including the Honorable Gil F. Decker, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research, Development and Acquisition and Lieutenant General Albert J. Edmonds, Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), discussed their views on the acquisition and use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software.

Among the critical issues discussed in the use of COTS software was the need for government acquisition procedures to allow evaluation of the best combination of COTS and Ada software in system procurement. Another issue discussed was the need to evaluate development costs and maintenance and support costs of COTS. Long-term COTS supportability costs have yet to be fully analyzed whereas Ada promises a 35% reduction in longer-term maintenance costs.

For a copy of the proceedings of the 3rd Annual Executive Round Table, please contact the Consortium Clearinghouse at 703/742-7211, or send an e-mail to "ask-spc@software.org".

SOURCE:
"Decker, Edmonds discuss COTS software issues with Executive Round Table participants," Software Productivity Consortium Quarterly. December 1995: 6-7. 

Ada AND REUSE INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE WEB PAGES RECEIVE 
"TOP 5% OF THE WEB" AWARD

The Software Engineering WWW site, home page for both the Ada and Reuse Information Clearinghouses, has received Point's "Top 5% of the Web" award. Sites are chosen based upon their content, presentation, and experience (Is this fun? Is it worth the time? Does this site deliver the goods?). We are happy to say that the Software Engineering site ranked high in all of these categories. Find out for yourself ... visit us at http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us!

SOURCE:
Ada Information Clearinghouse

The AdaIC's "Ada News Brief" is a compilation of summaries from Ada- related articles in trade magazines, newsletters and press releases. The AdaIC welcomes suggestions for and pointers to Ada-related articles.

Contact the AdaIC at:

Ada Information Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 1866
Falls-Church, VA 22041
1-800/232-4211 or 703/681-2466
adainfo@sw-eng.falls-church.va.us
http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us