Glossary definition of "interoperability"

Hi, all,

On the wiki, I've added a definition of "interoperability."
<http://www.w3.org/community/markdown/wiki/Glossary#Terminology>.

The definition is drawn from two sources:

1. Commission v. Microsoft, No. T‑167/08, European Community Court of
First Instance (Grand Chamber Judgment of 17 September, 2007), para.
230, 374, 421 (rejecting Microsoft's argument that "interoperability"
has a 1-way rather than 2-way meaning; information technology
specifications must be disclosed with sufficient specificity to place
competitors on an "equal footing" in regard to interoperability; "the
12th recital to Directive 91/250 defines interoperability as 'the
ability to exchange information and mutually to use the information
which has been exchanged'").

2. ISO/IEC JTC 1 Directives, Annex I (eye),
<http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2489/186491/186605/AnnexI.html>.

As best I can determine, W3C has adopted no generally applicable
definition of "interoperability", but W3C now operates under an
agreement with ISO/IEC enabling fast-tracking of W3C recommendations
to become ISO/IEC international standards. This would appear to make
ISO/IEC terminology mandatory for W3C recommendations submitted to
ISO/IEC. ISO/IEC Directives Part 2: Rules for the structure and
drafting of International Standards,
<http://www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs/iec/isoiec-dir2%7Bed6.0%7Den.pdf>
(large PDF), Section 1 (Scope).

While W3C Interest Groups' work product is not on a track to become a
recommendation, that does not preclude a Working Group later using our
work product as a starting point for a recommendation. Therefore, I
think it best to adhere to W3C definitions or definitions applicable
to W3C recommendations.

Please post here if you have objections to the definition added to our glossary.

Best regards,

Paul

Received on Wednesday, 28 November 2012 18:42:14 UTC