IBIS – Interoperability in Business Information Systems -61- © IBIS – Issue 1 (1), 2006 The Connection, Communication, Consolidation, Collaboration Interoperability Framework (C 4 IF) For Information Systems Interoperability Vassilios Peristeras, Greek National Center for Public Administration, per@uom.gr Konstantinos Tarabanis, University of Macedonia, kat@uom.gr Abstract: In this paper, we review the growing literature of interoperability typologies for information systems and propose an interoperability typology framework to provide a synthesis. For this we employ a metaphor from linguistics. That is, we perceive the interaction amongst information systems as a discourse and use concepts from linguistics to outline different types of information systems interoperability. The derived framework has been named Connection, Communication, Consolidation and Collaboration Interoperability Framework (C4IF). INTRODUCTION The term “interoperability” has been heavily used - and sometimes misused – in the information systems literature. In this paper, we elaborate on the definition, the scope, the use and the types of interoperability. First, we present a set of definitions as given by established actors and give an overview of several interoperability typologies as introduced by various researchers in the field. We then propose our own classification framework of all interoperability types, which we call C 4 Interoperability Framework (C 4 IF) from the initials of the words Connection, Communication, Consolidation, and Collaboration that constitute the core concepts of our framework. Last, we place the existing typologies vis-à-vis the C 4 IF framework and present its advantages when compared with the other approaches. Defining interoperability There are numerous definitions for interoperability in the literature. Instead of trying to add one more, we quote some of them: • IEEE defines it as the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged 1 . • Quoting from the IDABC, European Interoperability Framework, interoperability means the ability of information and communication technology (ICT) systems and of the business processes they support to exchange data and to enable sharing of information and knowledge 2. • DARPA defines interoperability as (a) the ability of systems, units, or forces to provide services to and accept services from other systems, units or forces and 1 IEEE (1990), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): Standard Computer Dictionary- A Compilation of IEEE Standard Computer Glossaries 2 IDABC (2004), European Interoperability Framework