interoperability
n.ComputingThe ability of different systems to use and exchange information through a shared format.
Notes
Interoperability implies that the information does not need to be transformed during exchange; the different systems can use the data in its native format. Standards facilitate interoperability; for example, a web page marked up in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) can be read on different browsers.Interoperability is often a relative term. In the example of web pages, different browsers may render the code with subtle - and sometimes not so subtle - differences. A browser on one person's computer may display the text in 10-point Times Roman, another browser on another person's computer may display the text in 12-point Helvetica, and a third browser on another person's computer may read the text out loud.
Citations
Digital Preservation Testbed 2003, p. 31 Interoperability in the technical sense tackles the problem of digital obsolescence by reducing the dependency of files and records on a particular combination of hardware and software. Interoperability means that a file can be transferred from one platform to another and can then still be reproduced in the same or a similar way. In its simplest implementation two forms are possible: dependency on the application, but not on the operating system; independency of both the operating system and the application.
