*5.4. Implications for Future Research*

We identify the potential for future research in the following areas. Now that there is a more systematic approach for developing Bowtie, this means that there can be di fferent representations of it, similar to a Gantt chart and a network diagram, which are complementary representations of the same project plan. While the Gantt chart is a visual representation, it can also be expressed as a table. It is conceivable that there could be a similar spreadsheet representation of Bowtie. If so, this may provide a mechanism to add additional information about the likelihoods and frequencies of the threats and the e ffectiveness of the barriers, and include other application critical factors. In the presented case study, these factors could include defect detectability, engine history, and other influence factors. Furthermore, the spreadsheet has the potential to calculate the risk of each threat and the overall hazard considering these factors.

A user interface could be developed for automated query of the values for the Bowtie elements, i.e., hazard, top event, threats, consequences, barriers, escalation factors and escalation factor barriers, following the proposed structure. These values might be used to automatically generate a starting Bowtie. This has the potential to generate Bowtie diagrams quicker and more e fficiently. Moreover, the automation of Bowtie would allow selecting di fferent levels of detail and presenting the most relevant elements for a target audience, or based on the likelihood and impact. This might be carried out by applying di fferent filters in the Bowtie interface and retrieving the data from the spreadsheet accordingly. The generated Bowtie could then be limited to (say) the most important ten threats (highest risk) and the five most e ffective barriers of each threat and consequence path. This has not only the potential to significantly reduce the size and complexity of the Bowtie diagram, but also to further support a standardised presentation and to highlight the critical elements, where most emphasis should be put on improvement e fforts.
