Consistent terminology - A problem in standardisation state of art report of enterprise engineering

Global markets and even more the word-wide collaboration and cooperation of enterprises of all sizes have increased the need for standards. Technical standards for the products but evenly important standards for the way of doing business in collaborative and cooperative environments. The latter are concerned with the communication aspects of information and communication technology (ICT), like protocols, safety and security as well as the syntax and semantics of the communication content. Sender and receiver have to trust the communication itself and they both have to have the same understanding of the meaning of the exchanged information. Unfortunately, the standards are developed independently by different standards organisation using incompatible and inconsistent terminologies and thereby hampering significantly the deployment of existing standards and the development of still missing ones. The paper presents the results of an analysis on the terminology used in international standards in the area of enterprise engineering and integration, which shows the problems of current terminology. The area of enterprise engineering and integration has been chosen for its specific needs for consistent terminology. Only if the information exchange is based on syntax and semantic common to both parties can the needed collaboration or cooperation really take place in the global environment. Real efforts are required to harmonize the terminology used in standardisation and thereby improve the ability to communicate on the technological and the human level.