The Multi-Disciplinary Interoperability Challenge

Abstract

The implementation of the INSPIRE Directive in Europe and similar efforts around the globe to develop spatial data infrastructures and global systems of systems have been focusing largely on the adoption of agreed technologies, standards, and specifications to meet the (systems) interoperability challenge. Addressing the key scientific challenges of humanity in the 21st century requires however a much increased multi-disciplinary effort, which in turn makes more complex demands on the type of systems and arrangements needed to support it. This paper analyses the challenges for multi-disciplinary interoperability using the experience of the EuroGEOSS research project (www.eurogeoss.eu). It argues that multi-disciplinarity requires mutual understanding of requirements, methods, theoretical underpinning and tacit knowledge. For this purpose it is necessary to move from a focus on data discovery and access, to one that puts emphasis on the way in which different disciplines frame a problem and use data and analytical models and processes to find one or more possible solutions. In other words, we need to elicit and document analytical models, and make reference to their theoretical bases, so that researchers from different disciplines can have a bridge to understand and collaborate meaningfully across the disciplinary divide.