Abstract
Examples of incompatible systems are offered with a discussion of the relationship between incompatibility and innovation. Engineering practices and the role of standards are reviewed as a means of resolving issues of incompatibility, with particular attention to the issue of innovation. Loosely-coupled systems are described as a means of achieving and sustaining both interoperability and innovation in heterogeneous environments. A virtual unifying layer, in terms of a standard, a best practice, and a methodology, is proposed as a modality for designing information interoperability for enterprise applicaitons. The Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), microformats, and Joshua Porter�s AOF Method are described and presented as solutions for designing interoperable information sharing web sites. The Special Operations Force Information Access (SOFIA), a mock design, is presented as an example of information interoperability.
