Spiral Development, Real Options, and Other Development Methodologies

In areas such financial portfolio management, automotive manufacturing, and the defense sectors, new methodologies such as real options and spiral development have been successfully implemented to optimize both program output and minimize program risk over several decades. On June 5, the Human Space Exploration Initiative and the Defense Industrial Initiatives Group, both programs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), hosted, in cooperation with the International Center for Decision and Risk Analysis at the University of Texas at Dallas, and the sponsorship of EADS, a conference on new developments and methodologies and how they can be applied to the future space exploration systems.

Panel 1: Theory and Background
While the terms such as "real options" and "spiral development" are used quite freely, they are terms that are often poorly defined. The underpinnings of these and related theories provide a rich framework for program management that is often overlooked. These development approaches can be quite powerful, but such utility is in large part a function of understanding their nature and in so doing, avoiding pitfalls in their use.

Moderator:
James Lewis, senior fellow and director, CSIS's Technology and Public Policy Program

Speakers:
 Alain Bensoussan, University of Texas, Dallas and ICDRIA
 John Dillard, Naval Postgraduate School

Q&A Session

Panel 2: Development Methodology in Industry
Real options, spiral development and other management approaches were first developed and implemented in the private sector. In some cases, the private sector has had great success in using alternate methodologies. More interestingly, the use of new approaches can increase access to capital and appeal to investors while mitigating risk.

 Moderator:
Pierre Chao, senior fellow and director of CSIS's Defense Industrial Initiatives Group

Speakers:
David Ford, Texas A&M University
 Franklin "Judd" Blaisdell, Raytheon
Lama Moussawi, University of Texas, Dallas and ICDRIA

Q&A Session 

Panel 3: Development in Government and Space Exploration
As has been the experience with the application of these developmental approaches to the defense sector, attempts to apply what’s been learned in the defense sector without modification to the space sector have also met with mixed success. In this panel, we look at some of the obstacles and benefits of using novel development approaches in the context of space exploration.

 Moderator:
Vincent Sabathier, senior fellow and director, CSIS's Human Space Exploration Initiative

Speakers:
Alain Bensoussan, University of Texas, Dallas and ICDRIA
 Gregory Glaros, Synexxus Corporation
 Chris Scolese, NASA
Robie Samanta Roy, OSTP

Closing Remarks