Interoperability Issues in Centre to Centre Data Exchange

Interoperable data exchange is a key requirement to allow today’s fragmented landscape of ITS systems and services to evolve into a homogenous ‘electronic marketplace’ for real-time information that enables pervasive and seamless end user services. But this interoperability does not come by itself; it has to be deliberately built into systems, interfaces and standards! This paper elaborates on major European activities in the domain of interoperable cross-border exchange of traffic and travel related information. It covers new technical achievements introduced from the IT domain, like the use of object-oriented methodologies to define extensible data models, but also addresses organizational issues, like the harmonization of ITS data models in a data registry, currently at a pilot stage in the UK.