| | December 20178CIOReviewBy Joseph Vinhais, Corporate VP - Global Quality Assurance, Integra LifeSciences [NASDAQ:IART]There is no doubt that today's products are heavily dependent on software and embedded applications. Whether you are in healthcare, aerospace, automotive or any number of other industries, software is essential in delivering and determining a customer's experience. Consumers expect products to have interactivity, selective workflow, and dynamic engagement, while ensuring safety and effectiveness. These demands have become more and more challenging for designers and developers.According to Vigor Yang, chair of the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, in calculating the cost of a Boeing 787 airplane, 50 percent represents hardware, 50 percent is attributed to navigation, guidance, and control--and of that, 50 percent represents software.In the healthcare industry, mobile app development is considered one of the fastest growing industries at approximately 32 percent growth annually. There are more than 259,000 mobile health apps and more than 59,000 health app publishers worldwide. In fact, industry observers project the global mHealth app market will reach $26 billion in revenue by the end of 2017.Ensuring the safety of these medical technologies has become more and more challenging for regulatory agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who are constantly faced with resource and federal budget constraints. The need to adopt better tools and technologies, to stay ahead of potential issues and effectively identify and target high-risk products, is now greater than ever. In the last few years, the FDA has expanded co-operation and built alliances with its international counterparts to push for stronger global standards and harmonization.So what role does the Software Quality Engineers (SQEs) play in ensuring our life-sustaining and life-enhancing products meet quality standards and expectations for today and into the future? How do SQEs manage the design development and field feedback processes, to ensure safety, effectiveness, compliance and quality expectations are met?SQEs are gate keepers, mentors, consultants, and influencers. With the ever-changing landscape and increasing demands on Software Quality Engineering, the challenge is measuring success in ensuring products are consistently safe and effective. TODAY'S ROLE OF THE SOFTWARE QUALITY ENGINEERJoseph VinhaisIN MY OPINION
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