Works and Plays Well with Others - Industry participants need to implement and adhere to AEC interoperability standards

摘要

As defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), interoperability is "the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged." The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) requires "the capability to communicate, execute programs, or transfer data among various functional units in a manner that requires the user to have little or no knowledge of the unique characteristics of those units." Consequently, according to the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia.org, "interoperability tends to be regarded as an issue for experts, and its implications for daily living are sometimes underrated." Wikipedia also notes that "interoperability can have important economic consequences. ... If competitors' products are not interoperable ... the result may well be monopoly or market failure. For this reason, it may be prudent for user communities or governments to take steps to encourage interoperability in various situations."