Glossary · Systems engineering and MBSE
Responsibility assignment
Also known as: RACI light
German: Verantwortlichkeit
In systems engineering, a responsibility assignment is a defined allocation of who operates, changes, approves, verifies and supplies evidence for a system or interface. It makes responsibility explicit per item and per activity.
- Systems engineering
- Integrated systems
- German source term
In one sentence
A responsibility assignment states who operates, changes, approves, verifies and supplies evidence for each system or interface.
Example
For the interface between a press and a feeding robot, the responsibility assignment names the press builder for the press safety program, the integrator for the joint emergency stop and the plant for periodic checks.
How it applies
- Integrated systems: Every interface needs an assignment for both sides. Gaps typically appear where suppliers, integrators and operators meet.
- Change management: The assignment defines who may approve a change. It is an input to change control and to access rights.
- Evidence: Name who supplies which evidence, and in which form. Missing evidence is usually traced to an unassigned activity.
- Technical documentation: Record the assignment in the interface control document or project documentation; manuals should state which tasks are reserved for which qualified roles.
The German term Verantwortlichkeit names the resulting state of being responsible and accountable, while the English term stresses the act of assigning it. Both matter: the assignment has to be made, and the accountability has to be accepted.