Measuring Interoperability Readiness in South Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean: The Interoperability Observatory

This paper introduces the Interoperability Observatory, a structured research effort for measuring interoperability readiness in the regions of South Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, supported by the Greek Interoperability Centre. The motivation for this effort derives from the fact that, although interoperability is a key element for public administration and enterprises effective operation, and an important enabler for cross-country cooperation, a standard framework for benchmarking interoperability developments at country level is currently not in place. Interoperability-related information is highly fragmented in different ICT, e-Government and e-Business reports. In this context, in the core of the Interoperability Observatory lies the definition of a structured collection of metrics and indicators, associated with the dimension of interoperability-governance, and a mechanism for gathering with regard to the latter suitable information for a number of countries from various sources. The ultimate goal is the use of this information towards the directions of raising awareness on the countries’ interoperability status, promoting best practice cases and benchmarking.