Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together (inter-operate). The term is often used in a technical systems engineering sense, or alternatively in a broad sense, taking into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system to system performance.

(Interop is also the name of several annual networking product trade shows.)

Definition

The IEEE defines interoperability as: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (pronounced as eye-triple-ee) is an international non-profit, professional organization incorporated in the State of New York, United States. ...

the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged.^[1]

Telecommunications

In telecommunication, the term can be defined as: Copy of the original phone of Alexander Graham Bell at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris Telecommunication is the assisted transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. ...

1. The ability of systems, units, or forces to provide services to and accept services from other systems, units or forces and to use the services exchanged to enable them to operate effectively together.
2. The condition achieved among communications-electronics systems or items of communications-electronics equipment when information or services can be exchanged directly and satisfactorily between them and/or their users. The degree of interoperability should be defined when referring to specific cases.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms in support of MIL-STD-188. In telecommunication, communications-electronics (C-E) is the specialized field concerned with the use of electronic devices and systems for the acquisition or acceptance, processing, storage, display, analysis, protection, disposition, and transfer of information. ... The ASCII codes for the word Wikipedia represented in binary, the numeral system most commonly used for encoding computer information. ... Federal Standard 1037C, entitled Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms is a United States Federal Standard, issued by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended. ... The Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms is a compedium of terminology used by the United States Department of Defense (DOD). ... MIL-STD-188 is a series of U.S. military standards relating to telecommunications. ...

In two-way radio, interoperability is composed of three dimensions: Motorola HT1000 hand-held two-way radio A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive (a transceiver), unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content one way. ...

• compatible communications paths (compatible frequencies, equipment and signaling),
• radio system coverage or adequate signal strength, and;
• scalable capacity.

Software

Interoperability: playing the two role network game, when one of the player clients (top left) runs under Sun Microsystems and another under GNU Classpath with JamVM. The applications execute the same bytecode and interoperate using the standard RMI-IIOP messages for communication

With respect to software, the term interoperability is used to describe the capability of different programs to exchange data via a common set of exchange formats, to read and write the same file formats, and to use the same protocols. (The ability to execute the same binary code on different processor platforms is 'not' contemplated by the definition of interoperability.) The lack of interoperability can be a consequence of a lack of attention to standardization during the design of a program. Indeed, interoperability is not taken for granted in the non-standards-based portion of the computing world. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (924x696, 63 KB) Summary Demonstartion of CORBA interoperability between GNU Classpath and Sun Microsystems. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (924x696, 63 KB) Summary Demonstartion of CORBA interoperability between GNU Classpath and Sun Microsystems. ... Sun Microsystems, Inc. ... GNU Classpath is a project aiming to create a free implementation of the standard class library for the Java programming language. ... JamVM [1] is an open-source Java virtual machine developed to be extremely small compared with other VMs while conforming to the Java virtual machine specification version 2 (blue book). ... Bytecode is a binary representation of an executable program designed to be executed by a virtual machine rather than by dedicated hardware. ... RMI-IIOP (read RMI over IIOP) denotes the Java RMI interface over the CORBA system. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... A file format is a particular way to encode information for storage in a computer file. ... For other senses of this word, see protocol. ... An executable or executable file, in computer science, is a file whose contents are meant to be interpreted as a program by a computer. ... CPU redirects here. ... “Standard” redirects here. ...

According to ISO/IEC 2382-01, Information Technology Vocabulary, Fundamental Terms, interoperability is defined as follows: "The capability to communicate, execute programs, or transfer data among various functional units in a manner that requires the user to have little or no knowledge of the unique characteristics of those units". [1]

Note that the definition is somewhat ambiguous because the user of a program can be another program and, if the latter is a portion of the set of program that is required to be interoperable, it might well be that it does need to have knowledge of the characteristics of other units. This definition focuses on the technical side of interoperability, while it has also been pointed out that interoperability is often more of an organizational issue: often interoperability has a significant impact on the organizations concerned, raising issues of ownership (do people want to share their data?), labor relations (are people prepared to undergo training?) and usability. In this context, a more apt definition is captured in the term "business process interoperability". Business process interoperability (BPI) is a state that exists when a business process can meet a specific objective automatically utilizing essential human labor only. ...

Interoperability can have important economic consequences, such as network externalities. If competitors' products are not interoperable (due to causes such as patents, trade secrets or coordination failures), the result may well be monopoly or market failure. For this reason, it may be prudent for user communities or governments to take steps to encourage interoperability in various situations. In the United Kingdom, for example, there is an eGovernment-based interoperability initiative called e-GIF. As far as user communities, Neutral Third Party is creating standards for business process interoperability. Another example of a neutral party is the RFC documents from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ... The network effect causes a good or service to have a value to a potential customer dependent on the number of customers already owning that good or using that service. ... For other uses, see Patent (disambiguation). ... A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers. ... Coordination failure is the electoral problem resulting from competition between two or more candidates or political parties from the same or approximate location in the political ideological spectrum or space against an opposing candidate or political party from the other side of the political ideological spectrum or space. ... This article is about the economic term. ... Market failure is a term used by economists to describe the condition where the allocation of goods and services by a market is not efficient. ... e-Government (from electronic government, also known as e-gov, digital government, online government or in a certain context transformational government) refers to government’s use of information and communication technology (ICT) to exchange information and services with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. ... e-GIF is the UK eGovernment Interoperability Framework. ... In internetworking and computer network engineering, Request for Comments (RFC) documents are a series of memoranda encompassing new research, innovations, and methodologies applicable to Internet technologies. ... The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standard bodies; and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite. ...

Medical Industry

New technologies are being introduced in hospitals and labs at an ever-increasing rate, and many of these innovations have the potential to interact synergistically if they can be integrated effectively. The need for “plug-and-play” interoperability – the ability to take a medical device out of its box and easily make it work with one’s other devices – has attracted great attention from both healthcare providers and industry. A hospital today is an institution for professional health care provided by physicians and nurses. ... Plug and Play is a term used in the computer field to describe a computers ability to have new devices, normally peripherals, added to it without having to restart the computer. ...

Interoperability helps patients get the most out of technology, and it also encourages innovation in the industrial sphere. When different products can be combined without complicated and expensive interfaces, small companies can enter a field and make specialized products. Without interoperability, hospitals are forced to turn to large vendors that provide suites of compatible devices but that do not specialize in any one area. Interoperability promotes competition, and competition encourages innovation and quality.

From the perspective of Intel, a major producer of consumer healthcare devices, there are six major factors that affect an industry’s ability to achieve interoperability. First there needs to be a demand for interoperable products. Second, there must be standards, or rules, defining what interoperability means in the field. Third, business conditions must encourage manufacturers to make their products interoperable. Fourth, guidelines must exist that make the often-complicated standards easier for companies to interpret. Fifth, compliance must be verified by independent testing; and finally, interoperability must be actively promoted. The rapid rise of wireless technology illustrates that interoperability is attainable. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... For other uses, see Wireless (disambiguation). ...

Conditions in the biomedical industry are still in the process of becoming conducive to the development of interoperable systems. A potential market of interested hospitals exists, and standards for interoperability are being developed. Nevertheless, it seems that current business conditions do not encourage manufacturers to pursue interoperability. Only sixteen to twenty percent of hospitals, for example, use electronic medical records (EMR). With such a low rate of EMR adoption, most manufacturers can get away with not investing in interoperability. In fact, not pursuing interoperability allows some of them to tout the inter-compatibility of their own products while excluding competitors. By promoting EMR adoption, companies such as Intel hope to create an environment in which hospitals will have the collective leverage to demand interoperable products. Health science is the discipline of applied science which deals with human and animal health. ... An electronic medical record (commonly abbreviated EMR) is a generic term used to describe computer-based patient medical records. ... EMR can stand for: Electromagnetic radiation Electronic medical record Emergency medical response Educational Media Resources, Inc. ... EMR can stand for: Electromagnetic radiation Electronic medical record Emergency medical response Educational Media Resources, Inc. ... EMR can stand for: Electromagnetic radiation Electronic medical record Emergency medical response Educational Media Resources, Inc. ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ...

Public Safety

Interoperability is an important issue for law enforcement, fire fighting, EMS, and other public health and safety departments, because first responders need to be able to communicate during wide-scale emergencies. Traditionally, agencies could not exchange information because they operated widely disparate hardware that was incompatible. Agencies' information systems such as computer-aided dispatch systems (CAD) and records management systems (RMS) functioned largely in isolation, so-called "information islands." Agencies tried to bridge this isolation with inefficient, stop-gap methods while large agencies began implementing limited interoperable systems. These approaches were inadequate and the nation's lack of interoperability in the public safety realm become evident during the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center structures. Further evidence of a lack of interoperability surfaced when agencies tackled the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. For other uses, see Police (disambiguation). ... A repair locker hose team aboard USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) combats a controlled fire on the mobile aircraft firefighting training device May 2, 2006. ... An Emergency medical service (abbreviated to initialism EMS in many countries) is a service providing out-of-hospital acute care and transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient believes constitutes a medical emergency. ...

In contrast to the overall national picture, some states, including Utah, have already made great strides forward. The Utah Highway Patrol and other departments in Utah have created a statewide data-sharing network using technology from a company based in Bountiful, Utah, FATPOT Technologies. The Utah Highway Patrol is the highway patrol agency for Utah, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state. ... Looking toward Bountiful from the Wasatch Mountains that rise above it. ...

The U.S. government is making a concerted effort to overcome the nation's lack of public safety interoperability. The Department of Homeland Security's Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) is pursuing the SAFECOM and CADIP programs, which are designed to help agencies as they integrate their CAD and other IT systems.

The OIC launched CADIP in August 2007. This project will partner the OIC with agencies in several locations, including Silicon Valley. This program will use case studies to identify the best practices and challenges associated with linking CAD systems across jurisdictional boundaries. These lessons will create the tools and resources public safety agencies can use to build interoperable CAD systems and communicate across local, state, and federal boundaries. For the Nintendo 64 game, see Space Station Silicon Valley. ...

Achieving Software Interoperability

Software Interoperability is achieved through five interrelated ways: 1) product testing, 2) product engineering, 3) industry/community partnership, 4) access to common technology and IP, and 5) implementation of standards. Each of these has an important role in reducing variability in intercommunication software and enhancing a common understanding of the end goal to be achieved.

1) Product testing – Products produced to a common standard, or a sub-profile thereof, depend of the clarity of the standard, but there are often discrepancies in their implementations that system and unit testing do not uncover. This requires that the systems formally be tested in a product against product manner – as they will be finally implemented – to ensure they actually will intercommunicate as advertised, i.e.; they are interoperable. Interoperable product testing is different from conformance-based product testing as conformance to a standard does not necessarily engender interoperability with another product also tested for conformance.

2) Product engineering – Implements the common standard, or a sub-profile thereof, as defined by the industry/community partnerships with the specific intention of achieving interoperability with other software implementations also following the standard or sub-profile thereof.

3) Industry/community partnership – Industry/community partnerships, either domestic or international, sponsor standard workgroups with the purpose to define a common standard that may be used to allow software systems to intercommunicate to a defined purpose. At times an industry/community will sub-profile an existing standard produced by another organization to reduce options and thus making interoperability more achievable for implementations.

4) Common technology and IP – The use of a common technology or IP may speed and reduce the complexity of interoperability by reducing the variability between the components from different sets of separately developed software products and thus allowing them to intercommunicate more readily. This technique has some of the same technical results as using a common vendor product to produce interoperability. The common technology can come through 3rd party libraries or open source developments.

5) Standard implementation – Software interoperability requires a requisite common agreement that is normally accomplished via a industrial, national or international standard.

Interoperability as a question of power and market dominance

Interoperability tends to be regarded as an issue for experts and its implications for daily living are sometimes underrated. The case of Microsoft vs. the European Commission shows how interoperablity concerns important questions of power relationships. In 2004, the European Commission found that Microsoft had abused its market power by deliberately restricting interoperability between Windows work group servers and non-Microsoft work group servers. By doing so, Microsoft was able to protect its dominant market position for work group server operating systems, the heart of corporate IT networks. Microsoft was ordered to disclose complete and accurate interface documentation, which will enable rival vendors to compete on an equal footing (“the interoperability remedy”). As of June 2005 the Commission is market testing a new proposal by Microsoft to do this, having rejected previous proposals as insufficient. Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... Berlaymont, the Commissions seat The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. ...

Recent Microsoft efforts around interoperability may indicate a shift in their approach and level of commitment to interoperability. These efforts including the migration of Microsoft Office file formats to ECMA Office Open XML, and several partner interoperability agreements, most notably their recent collaboration agreement with Novell[2][3][4]. Ecma Office Open XML (also known as Office Open XML, commonly abbreviated as OOXML) is a file format specification for the storage of electronic documents such as memos, presentations, and spreadsheets. ...

Interoperability has also surfaced in the Software patent debate in the European Parliament (June/July 2005). Critics claim that because patents on techniques required for interoperability are kept under RAND (reasonable and non discriminatory licensing) conditions, customers will have to pay license fees twice: once for the product and, in the appropriate case, once for the patent protected programme the product uses. There is heated debate as to whether and to what extent it should be possible to patent software and computer-implemented inventions as a matter of public policy. ... Established 1952, as the Common Assembly President Hans-Gert Pöttering (EPP) Since 16 January 2007 Vice-Presidents 14 Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (EPP) Alejo Vidal-Quadras (EPP) Gérard Onesta (Greens – EFA) Edward McMillan-Scott (ED) Mario Mauro (EPP) Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez (PES) Luigi Cocilovo (ALDE) Mechtild...

References

External links

• CIMIT - Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology - the MD PnP Program on Medical Device Interoperability
• Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO)
• Interoperability. What is it and why should I want it. Ariadne 24 (2000)
• Interoperability Summit
• InterOP NoE Project
• InterOP V-Lab
• OA Journal on Interoperability in Business Information Systems
• University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory - premier research facility on interoperability of computer networking technologies
• Microsoft Interoperability
• Understanding COM Interop
• Interoperability vs. intraoperability: your open choice. Bob Sutor blog, 6 December, 2006
• i14y.net presents the research concerning the possible interoperability between JBoss Application Server, Microsoft .NET, BEA Weblogic and IBM WebSphere through the Web Services
• La France v. Apple: who’s the dadvsi in DRMs?, Nicolas Jondet (University of Edinburgh), SCRIPT-ed, December 2006