Interoperability

The ability of heterogeneous systems, components, or organizations to exchange information and use the exchanged information to carry out joint functions with predictable, useful behavior; this includes technical data exchange, syntactic compatibility, semantic consistency, and organizational arrangements enabling coordinated operation.

The capacity of distinct systems, components or services to exchange data and to use that exchanged data effectively for intended purposes; this requires compatible syntax (formats and encodings), shared or mappable semantics (meaning, units, and conventions), and sufficient operational assumptions (timing, error models, authentication) or agreed translation layers.