: Interoperability, i.e. "the ability of diverse systems and services to work together", is often described from a syntactic viewpoint, focusing on data exchange formats. While syntactic interoperability is required, the pre-requisite for any data exchange is to ensure that all actors involved share a common understanding of the information that will be exchanged. This aspect of interoperability is known as semantic interoperability. Semantic interoperability focusses on “what”, i.e. the semantics or meaning of the data exchanged, while syntactic interoperability focuses on “how”, i.e. the structure of the data exchanged. The need for semantic interoperability is evident in the development and operation of Space Systems. Developing and operating Space Systems implies complex activities, involving many parties, distributed in location and time. Efficient and effective interoperability is therefore a must. This need for semantic interoperability in the development and o...
Inge M. C. Lemmens, Jean-Paul Koster, Serge Valera