ABSTRACT
The pragmatic need to understand and methodically deal with the meaningful communication and integration of information relates to what is known as semantic interoperability. This widely used notion can mean different things to different people. The rst source of vagueness is attributed to the constituent semantic, which has already been discussed in the rst two chapters. The second source of vagueness is caused by the all-pervading notion of “interoperability” or “being interoperable.” The literature on interoperability is vast (Fileto and Medeiros, 2003), often with confusing views and numerous overlapping denitions. Therefore, there is no signicant harm if we attempt our own version:
Interoperability is the ability of “systems” or “products” to operate effectively and efciently in conjunction, on the exchange and reuse of available resources, services, procedures, and information, according to the intended use of their providers, in order to fulll the requirements of a specic task.
