Implementing the New INCOSE Systems Engineering Competency Framework Using an Evidence Based Approach for Oil and Gas Companies

The much-anticipated new INCOSE Systems Engineering Competency Framework was published in July 2018. This paper and associated presentation describes how individuals in oil and gas companies can use a practical evidence-based approach with the new framework to enhance their overall engineering and systems engineering expertise. The framework consists of 36 competencies across five groups: Core, Technical, Management, Professional, and Integrating. In addition to a description and explanation of why it is important, each competency includes a set of evidence-based indicators across five levels of competence: Awareness, Supervised Practitioner, Practitioner, Lead Practitioner and Expert. The indicators are considered evidence-based because they describe the evidence that individuals should provide in order to determine their level of competence. An individual's competence enables them to properly execute a particular process or activity described by the competency with a certain proficiency. It also includes understanding and making the most of the relationships between and among the various competencies and their activities, understanding the individual's specific roles in supporting the overall enterprise, in this case the oil and gas industry, and understanding the behavioral skills required to ensure the competencies and their associated activities are executed effectively in those roles. In addition, by applying this evidence-based approach, individuals can use the indicators to help identify and then acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors and experiences that lead to higher levels of competence in the various competencies, thereby enhancing their own systems engineering effectiveness in their oil and gas careers and beyond.