The Interoperability Score

As the U.S. military seeks to advance its ability to perform network-centric operations, clearly an important factor is improving interoperability of systems of all types. Since only a rare system operates alone, improving the interoperability of networks of systems becomes our research goal. Many nonhomogeneous networks of technological, human, and organizational systems are employed in all types of military operations. Within DoD, these systems and their operational uses are often described by Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) architectures and include system, technical and operational views. With architecture as a foundation, a methodology for measuring interoperability, called an “Interoperability Score,” is introduced. The methodology first defines a baseline measurement of interoperability for a non-homogeneous network of systems as they are used within an operational scenario or “thread.” The methodology then defines the theoretical optimum interoperability score and proposes some heuristics which can be used to improve overall network interoperability.