System Revisited - Again

Anthony Quayle (Independent researcher)

Keywords
system;systems engineering;concept;abstract-virtual-physical
Abstract
What is a system? This paper reviews the revised foundational definitions of system and systems engineering in the new edition of the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook. It concludes that the concept, not rooted in a single science or exemplar domain, is a meta-concept that does not have a dominant scientific definition. It positions systems engineering as the abstract phase within an abstract-virtual-physical design process.