Digital Engineering Transformation as a Sociotechnical Challenge: Categorization of Barriers and Their Mapping to DoD's Policy Goals

2025-09-18

AI Summary

Digital Engineering (DE) transformation confronts complex, interdependent socio-technical barriers, yet existing research lacks a systematic understanding of their typologies, root causes, and alignment with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) policy objectives. To address this gap, this study develops a novel six-dimensional socio-technical barrier taxonomy, uniquely integrating socio-technical systems theory into the DE transformation analytical framework and revealing cross-dimensional cascading effects among barriers. Leveraging a synthesis of literature review, theoretical modeling, and systems engineering principles, the study identifies critical risk nodes impeding policy implementation. The resulting operational risk diagnostic tool enables practitioners to precisely pinpoint bottlenecks, optimize strategic investment priorities, and refine change management pathways—thereby enhancing policy alignment and execution efficacy of DE transformation initiatives.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Action, Change, and Causality
• Humans and AI: Planning and Decision Support for Human-Machine Teams

Application Category

• Social Networks and Social Media: Socio-technical web-based systems
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web applications in cross-disciplinary domains and verticals such as mixed reality, smart cities, and digital health
• Responsible Web: Social and technical mechanisms of refusal for web technologies and applications

Abstract

Digital Engineering (DE) transformation represents a paradigm shift in systems engineering (SE), aiming to integrate diverse analytical models and digital artifacts into an authoritative source of truth for improved traceability and more efficient system lifecycle management. Despite institutional support, many DE initiatives underperform or fail to realize their intended benefits. We argue that this often results from a limited understanding of the social and technical barriers, and particularly how their interplay shapes transformation outcomes. To address this gap, we document barriers identified in the literature and grounded in sociotechnical systems theory, organized into six dimensions: people, processes, culture, goals, infrastructure, and technology. We then map these barriers to the U.S. Department of Defense's DE policy goals. Our analysis shows that technological investments alone are insufficient, as failures frequently arise from social factors such as workforce readiness, leadership support, and cultural alignment. The mapping also demonstrates that sociotechnical barriers often cascade across dimensions, making their impact on policy goals difficult to trace and complicating implementation. These insights carry practical implications: managers may use the mapping as a diagnostic tool to identify risks and prioritize resources; policymakers may complement strategic mandates with sustained investments and long-term change management; and engineers may view DE not as a threat to job security but as an opportunity for more effective collaboration.

Problem

• Identifying sociotechnical barriers to Digital Engineering transformation
• Mapping barriers to DoD policy goals for implementation guidance
• Addressing workforce readiness and cultural alignment challenges

Innovation

• Sociotechnical barrier categorization for digital transformation
• Mapping barriers to policy goals for risk management
• Integrating social technical factors for engineering success