Software systems are increasingly essential to the operation of all aspects of our society. Clearly the operation of these systems has profound effects on society. Less recognized, but no less important, is the effect that societal activity has on software, placing continual pressure upon software systems to improve. In that software systems function as societal change agents, it follows naturally that the changes wrought by software systems rebound back as pressures for these systems themselves to improve in order to meet more closely the changing requirements of society. These pressures are felt as growing gaps between societal requirements and operational profiles. These gaps serve both as measures of required improvement and as vectors that should be used to direct improvement efforts and measure their success.