In recent years, we have experienced an increase in the use of computers and an
increase of the inclusion of computers in systems of varying complexity. This
evolution affects products of daily life (household appliances, automobiles, etc.) as
well as industrial products (industrial control, medical devices, financial
transactions, etc.).
The malfunction of systems within these products can have a direct or indirect
impact on integrity (injury, pollution, alteration of the environment) and/or on the
lives of people (users, population, etc.) or an impact on the functioning of an
organization. Processes in industry are becoming increasingly automated. These
systems are subject to dependability requirements.
Today, dependability has become a requirement, not a concern (which was
previously the case in high-risk domains such as the nuclear or aerospace
industries), in a similar fashion to productivity, which has gradually imposed itself
on most industrial and technological sectors.