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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 so 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.

With respect to software, the term interoperability is also used to describe the capability of different programs to read and write the same file formats and utilise the same protocols.

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 failure s), the result may well be monopoly or market failure. For this reason, it may be prudent for governments to take steps to encouage interoperability in various situations.

See Also

• Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO)

In the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly there is an eGovernmentThe term (in all its uses) is generally agreed to derive from " electronic government" which introduces the notion and practicalities of electronic technology into the various dimensions and ramifications of government. The most frequent use of the term e-based interoperability initative called e-gife-GIF is the UK eGovernment Interoperability Framework. This is an extremely ambitious exercise intended to resolve and prevent (or at least minimise) problems arising from incompatible content of different computer systems. What are the aims of e-GIF? to.