Written by Donna H. Rhodes, Ph.D. (Email:rhodes@mit.edu)
Submitted November, 19, 2018
Model Curation is the lifecycle management, control, preservation and active enhancement of models and associated information to ensure value for current and future use, as well as repurposing beyond initial purpose and context. [1]
Model Curation is the lifecycle management, control, preservation and active enhancement of models and associated information to ensure value for current and future use, as well as repurposing beyond initial purpose and context. Curation activities include model identification, acquisition, accession, composition, evaluation, valuation, presentation, preservation, and archiving. Curation practices promote formalism and provide for the management and control of models and associated digital artifacts, particularly when managed as a collection, at the program and/or enterprise levels. Data associated with a model includes model technical data, model metadata, and model pedigree.
The need for model curation in digital engineering stems from the significant increase in models and associated information (libraries of data, techniques, etc.). As engineering practice becomes increasingly model-centric, models are valuable assets for designing and evolving systems, continuing to exist throughout the lifespan of a program, making the management and control of models and digital artifacts imperative. Maturing an approach for model curation in the systems engineering field can leverage work of other curation practices in other fields [2]. As in the case of digital curation [3], active management and enhancement is essential to model curation, distinguishing this from other fields of curation that focus on collecting and storing data and information. This is because models in digital engineering enterprises may be reused and repurposed beyond their original context and use. The lack of access to models, mistrust of models, and perception of legitimacy of models are all barriers in model reuse and longevity, which can be mitigated by model curation. Model curation provides formalism to ensure both technical and non-technical data and information concerning a model is created and maintained, including model metadata and model pedigree. As evidenced by curation practice in institutional collections (e.g., museum, historical society), dedicated leadership and support roles are needed to carry out curation processes. With digital engineering transformation, model curation can be expected to involve unique responsibilities at the program level and the enterprise level, leading to a new role of model curator.
Model curation may be performed at the program level, as well as the enterprise level. Model accession is a key practice that differentiates model curation from model management, involving a formal process for accepting and recording a model as a collection object in a program or enterprise level model portfolio.
Digital Curation , according to the Digital Curation Centre in the UK, is described as follows:
Data Curation , as stated by the University of Illinois’ Graduate School of Library and Information Science, is:
[1] Rhodes D.H., Interactive Model-Centric Systems Engineering Technical Report, Phase 5. SERC-2018-TR 104, Feb 28, 2018
[2] Reymondet, L., Rhodes, D.H. & Ross, A.M. Considerations for Model Curation in Model-Centric Systems Engineering. 10th Annual IEEE Systems Conference. Orlando, FL, April 2016
[3] National Academy of Science. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. National Academies Press. 2015
[4] Department of Defense. Digital Engineering Strategy. June 2018 https://www.acq.osd.mil/se/docs/2018-DES.pdf . [accessed 18 Nov 2018]
[5] NASA, NASA-STD-7009A w/CHANGE 1, Standards for Models and Simulations, Dec 17, 2016, https://standards.nasa.gov/standard/nasa/nasa-std-7009 [accessed 18 Nov 2018]