DO-178B independence is the ATTRIBUTE of separate development and review authority applied to different DO-178B lifecycle process steps. Development refers to origination of a DO-178B REQUIRED artifact (requirements, design, code, test, etc). Review authority refers to an INDIVIDUAL TASKED with the required DO-178B compliance review of that artifact. The TABLES in the back of DO-178B describe which artifacts must be reviewed. The tables also cite the level of DO-178B independence to be applied to each review. These independence levels are dictated by the criticality level associated with each review protocol.

DO-178B independence is the attribute of separate development and review authority applied to different DO-178B lifecycle process steps. Development refers to origination of a DO-178B required artifact (requirements, design, code, test, etc). Review authority refers to an individual tasked with the required DO-178B compliance review of that artifact. The tables in the back of DO-178B describe which artifacts must be reviewed. The tables also cite the level of DO-178B independence to be applied to each review. These independence levels are dictated by the criticality level associated with each review protocol.