The online economy and society is anticipated to undergo another wave of transformation and growth over the next decade and beyond. New economic activities will arise with new classes of networked applications and services, new forms of enterprise collaboration, new business models and new value propositions. It is generally accepted that ICT is an enabler for innovation. What is however less clear, and probably controversial, is the changing nature of innovation and the mechanisms for catalysing innovation. This report presents findings that support
a direct correlation between value innovation, open business models and Enterprise Interoperability (EI). It affirms that interoperability, as a means for European Enterprises to work together, is essential for fulfilling the vision of a competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy.
Realising this vision shifts the focus of interoperability from interoperation at the technical level to the strategic value of interoperability for the enterprises, the individuals and the economy. The field of EI therefore will need to continue to evolve and investigate new, radical possibilities and options in order to anticipate and help define enterprise systems required for new business as well as new technology paradigms, including paradigms for the Future Internet. As noted in the Enterprise
Interoperability Research Roadmap (European Commission, 2006), the delivery of IT functions as
services and interoperability as a utility-like capability are essential enablers for enterprises of the
future. The present report builds out from the Vision and Grand Challenges described in the
Roadmap, and provides an extensive Value Proposition for Enterprise Interoperability. Importantly,
the report establishes that the field of EI brings a unique business-driven perspective to the
research and development of ICT. It bridges the gulf between the business view and the technology
view of interoperability in order for enterprises systems to deliver innovative and sustainable value.