The emergence of requirements networks: The case for requirements inter-dependencies

Do system requirements depend on each other? Or, do system requirements live in an isolated world of their own and act independently by being completely oblivious to the presence of other requirements? Since a singular requirement does not convey the entire story, it supports the belief that requirements depend on each other. If so, then do dependant system requirements themselves converge into a network, an object that satisfies systemic criteria? If the answer is affirmative, then we assert that relationships between requirements (depicted as nodes in the requirements network) must exist, so that the 'whole' that emerges, may be considered as a network as against isolated set of singular statements. While a singular requirement conveys partial information about a system or a finished product, a requirements network might convey insights that predicate such a holistic perspective. An extensive literature search and a consolidation of findings are presented herein. In addition, the paper proposes a set of dependencies such as Contractual, Continuance, Compliance, Cooperation and Consequential between requirements specifically at the lowest level of the requirement tree.