Interoperability (organisational, semantic, and technical) in the public sector refers to a smooth interaction of heterogeneous systems, independent organisations and people, and different information with no need to develop specific point-to-point interfaces and agreements. Interoperability can be addressed at organisational, semantic and technical levels in order to allow socio-technical systems to interoperate smoothly. Organisational interoperability refers to common agreements of working together and enabling systems to exchange data and processes, including processes across organisations. Semantic interoperability refers to common understanding as well as shared interpretation of processes, content and data. Technical interoperability is concerned with technical means to secure smooth interoperation across heterogeneous systems. Examples are common data standards and communications protocols or standard data formats.

The European Commission has defined interoperability as “the means by which the inter-linking of systems, information and ways of working, whether within or between administrations, nationally or across Europe, or with the enterprise sector, occurs” ^[1]. Klischewski and Scholl further stress that systems and applications that interoperate are characterized by the following aspects: independency, heterogeneity, and control by different jurisdictions/ administrations or by external actors; yet also cooperation in a predefined and agreed upon fashion ^[2]. Likewise, Wimmer et al stress that interoperation can only be reached by means of open standards ^[3], whereby interoperation needs to be addressed on technical, semantic and organizational level alike (cf. ^[1] and ^[3]).

Sources

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 EC: Commission of the european communities. linking-up europe: The importance of interoperability for e-government services. Staff Working Document (2003)
2. ↑ Klischewski, R., Scholl, H.J.: Information quality as a common ground for key players in e-government integration and interoperability. In: Proceedings of HICSS’06. (2006)
3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Wimmer, M., Liehmann, M., Martin, B.: Offene Standards und abgestimmte Spezifikationen - das Österreichische Interoperabilitskonzept. Proceedings MKWI (2006)

Literature

• Sturm, Joachim: Interoperability and standards. In: Zechner, Achim (Ed.): Handbook for E-government: Strategies, solutions, efficiency and impact. Munich: Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, 2007, P. 123–132

Weblinks

• European Interoperability Framework for pan-European eGovernment services