Project Interoperability is a start-up guide for information interoperability. Information interoperability is the ability to transfer and use information in a consistent, efficient way across multiple organizations and information technology (IT) systems to accomplish operational missions. From a technical perspective, interoperability is developed through the consistent application of design principles and design standards to address a specific mission problem.

Information interoperability is important because it increases timely, responsible information sharing and can reduce costs and redundancy, ultimately enhancing decision making for government, industry, and citizens.

Project Interoperability can be used to access, improve, and use information sharing tools and resources. It uses some of the existing, well known enterprise architecture frameworks (such as TOGAF, DoDAF, FEAF) and the principles of service-oriented architecture (such as reuse and intrinsic interoperability) to suggest standards, tools, and methodologies to link existing systems. It also specifies the development of common documents and products that will enable disparate departments’ and agencies’ architectures to make the full framework operational.

Find out more about Project Interoperability and contribute information and comments at the Project Interoperability GitHub site.

Project Interoperability Use

Project Interoperability can be used differently depending on the role you have in your organization.

• For a program manager or procurement officer, project Interoperability provides suggestions on what you need to have an interoperable system. It gives a program manager the language they need to describe what they want to aid in more cost-effective and smoother procurement.
• For private industry, Project Interoperability provides a common language to help industry respond to RFIs and hold conversations with federal customers about their needs.
• For the technical IT community, when setting up models, schemas, and deciding what standards to apply, Project Interoperability guides decision making around architecture details.

Project Interoperability Principles and Authorities

Project Interoperability consolidates principles and authorities in numerous presidential directives, policy documents, strategies, and agency guidelines, notably:

• The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
• The National Strategy for Information Sharing and Safeguarding (December 2012)
• Executive Order 13587: Structural Reforms to Improve the Security of Classified Networks and the Responsible Sharing and Safeguarding of Classified Information
• Executive Order 13642: Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information
• Executive Office of the President, The Federal Information Technology Shared Services Strategy (May 2012)
• Open Government Directive (December 2009)
• Presidential Memorandum, The Digital Government: Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People (May 2012)
• Executive Office of the President, The Common Approach to Federal Enterprise Architecture (May 2012)
• National Institute of Standards and Technology, A Credential Reliability and Revocation Model for Federated Identities (Nov. 2012)

What Does Project Interoperabiliity Have to do with I2F?

The ISE Information Interoperability Framework (I2F) is a national architecture framework designed to support information sharing for the public safety and national security missions across all levels of government – federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial. The content of Project Interoperability comes directly from the I2F.

Project Interoperability will leverage the best practices for information sharing derived through interoperability exercises and reference implementations. Taking an open government approach to the I2F will lead to the best use of open standards among the mission and enablement communities, best practices for how policy and governance works, an understanding that the missions own requirements, and identification of common interoperability standards and models. Significant collaboration across these communities is recognized as essential to the effective operationalization of the I2F.