Interoperability and Open Standards
Interoperability must be distinguished from open standards. Although the goal of each is to provide effective and efficient exchange between computer systems, the mechanism for accomplishing that goal is very different. Open standards imply interoperability ab-initio, i.e., by definition, while interoperability does not, by itself, imply wider exchange between a range of products, or similar products from several different vendors, or even past future revisions of the same product. Interoperability may be developed post-facto, as a special measure between two products, while excluding the rest, or when a vendor is forced to adapt its system to make it interoperable with a dominant system.
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