Information interoperability and information standardisation for NATO C2 - a practical approach

Interoperability between information systems is usually 'achieved' by enabling connection at network level. Making systems really interoperable, by letting them understand and manipulate the exchanged information, requires a lot more. Above all, information standards are needed in order to gain common understanding about what will be exchanged. Besides that, information standardisation should be considered from a global point of view, taking into account the whole range of systems that will potentially exchange information for a certain purpose. The importance and complexity of information standards are often underestimated. Gaining efficient and effective interoperability starts with thinking about information standadisation in its totality first