This presentation provides a brief history of the origins of the Brazilian Chapter of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE BRASIL). The rationale that led to the creation of an official organization is described, as well as some of the challenges it faced, key successes achieved, and lessons learnt. In addition to a historical review, the audience will take away a rationale that might be helpful in establishing other INCOSE Chapter around the world.
By the late 1990s, a select community of engineers with a systemic mindset initiated involvement with the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) through various venues, particularly through graduate-level academic work involving international collaboration. These efforts contributed to growing awareness of systems engineering in the country and nurtured a group of people willing to embrace and evolve a more advanced and integrated systems approach. In the years that followed, many meetings, seminars, trainings, and other gatherings occurred over the country with the help and engagement of many; especially in the city of São José dos Campos area – which has evolved as an aerospace technology center.
A conscious attempt towards establishing an INCOSE Chapter had been born and was quite active despite various difficulties and an initial low adoption rate. Nevertheless, by 2010, a few INCOSE ambassadorships had been issued to residents in Brazil which then established a direct communication channel with INCOSE´s international board of directors. This shared communication enabled a few communities in geographically distant regions of this large country to become aware of each other and connect. The movement towards establishing a chapter strengthened, and people felt more confident and motivated.
A core group of organized leaders emerged. A more advanced plan was traced. Decisions on desired emergent behaviors, functional, and formal elements were made. Legal aspects and administration were addressed, and by 2012 a group of people came together in the premises of the National Institute for Space Research in São José dos Campos to have a public say in the creation of a professional organization with established principles and bylaws aligned and recognized by INCOSE. This gathering led to a successful outcome. INCOSE BRASIL was then officially established and became the first INCOSE chapter in Latin America.
INCOSE BRASIL was consciously conceived as a national entity, to serve simultaneously as the Brazilian section of INCOSE as well as the Brazilian National Association of Systems Engineers. The idea was to create a single, designated point of contact and a mechanism for coordinating the systems engineering community. The overall concept has been well accepted and is working effectively.
The operational concept was carefully established to be as much as possible an emulation of the international INCOSE organization with the intent to ensure cohesiveness of purpose. The idea was to remove unnecessary administrative barriers that could create incompatibility of procedures or prevent the flow of value in the chapter operations. For instance, its mission statement was purposefully set as the same as INCOSE´s, and the same classification of member types and overall policies regarding membership management was adopted. Considerations regarding a narrower geographical context and collaboration with the remainder INCOSE international community were incorporated.
In terms of governance, the chapter was designed to function with a Board of Directors charged with making the executive decisions; a Deliberative Council responsible for nurturing guiding principles, policies and a code of ethics, providing strategic direction and legal infrastructure; a Fiscal Council acting as an internal auditing agent; and a Corporate Advisory Board to organize the participation of institutional members, their voice and expectations.
The first three years of operation tested and refined this structure and saw a membership pool increase from 25 members to 40 members and then stabilizing at this level. By the fourth year of operation the Board of Directors decided it was time to put in place the efforts to establish its Regional Directorates. Regional Directorates are extensions of the National Board of Directors in charge of INCOSE BRASIL´s operations in specific geographical regions of interest. They are a governance component capable of providing a sense of identity and a professional home for communities of individuals.
Regional Directorates were conceived as part of the original bylaws and at that time a decision was made to have cities as the identifying geographical scope, rather than states or other larger geographical regions. The rationale driving this decision was the understanding that although modern remote communication technology is quite advanced and very welcome, there is an essential social component related to camaraderie, stewardship, and pride that emerges through face-to-face interaction. INCOSE BRASIL wanted to promote just that face-to-face based learning and growth while maintaining an overall sense of unity and national and international identity.
With that in mind, at the end of 2016, an effort to implement Regional Directorates was initiated. In little over a year, the membership level doubled to approximately 75 members. Products created at one Regional Directorate become part of the INCOSE BRASIL ecosystem, enriching the chapter portfolio and serving as references to be adopted by other Regional Directorates. Such collaboration is already taking place, as intended and is showing good results when it comes to putting Systems Engineers together to share their knowledge and experiences.
Even though the face to face effort helped INCOSE BRASIL to spread systems engineering across different cities. It became clear that, in a continental sized country like Brazil, the Regional Directories wouldn't be enough to reach all the potential members. So, since 2017, a huge collaboration effort was made to create products that would be a click away from Brazilian members, Webinars, Live Sessions, Systems Talks and conferences took place, increasing significantly the importance of the chapter when the topic was “Systems Engineering”.
Although the chapter is still quite young and relatively small, the difficulties surpassed thus far have led to the evolution of an aggressive growth strategy that is now in progress. Stakeholder expectations are high and so is the potential for expansion nationwide with additional impact for the presence of INCOSE in South America.