A contribution of system theory to sustainable enterprise interoperability science base

Even if the research domain related to interoperability has been developed for more than 10 years and particularly for the last 8 years, the different kinds of interoperability and the different problems to solve need to be consolidated in order to define a real science. Moreover, because of the continuous evolution of enterprises in supply chains, interoperability problems must continuously be considered and solved in order to reach a sustainable interoperability. The objective of this prospective research paper is to discuss how system theory (ST), applied to system of systems, is able to support the development of sustainable enterprise interoperability science base. After an introduction which reminds the definition of enterprise interoperability and the development of this domain in Europe, the system theory concepts are introduced. Then, the requirements are described to support the determination of the necessary concepts to develop a science base for sustainable enterprise interoperability. This part also describes how the concepts of system theory meet the defined requirements. The fourth part presents a specific approach based on system theory in order to manage the evolution of interoperability in enterprises and to reach sustainable interoperability. Then last part illustrates this work with a concrete example showing how ST concepts are used in GRAI methodology for instance to represent business process and decision interoperability problems. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.