In the future, issues that are pertinent to the safety and reliability of aviation systems will be more in the public domain and subject to various forms of public scrutiny. Some of these may be fair and independent but others may be biased or hostile, and seek to find fault or to attribute blame. Certification processes must not only be fair, but must be judged to be fair following rigorous scrutiny. The travelling public will demand high standards of safety, reliability and system integrity, but the financial resources to achieve these standards are not unlimited. Existing certification processes seem to fulfill many of the essential criteria for the technical validation of a system.
Certification is usually independent of the processes of design and procurement.
It can readily be construed as a form of independent validation of the functioning of complex systems. Certification processes are generally quite standardized, and so is the training in their implementation. There have recently been independent statements or proposals from several nations, to the effect that the application of human factors principles to certification processes is overdue and should be pursued. Cumulatively, these statements point towards a need to formulate and apply international policies, principles and practices for the application of human factors to certification, for the need has been identified widely. It is anticipated that rapid practical progress is possible if human factors practices and evidence are applied to certification.