By Dr.Thomas J Mowbray Chairman - iCMG

If they were the only vegetation around, then the climatic conditions, other geological and geographical environment should be conducive to the growth of Oaks and Cedars. The reality is, the world is not made of Oaks and Cedars alone!

If one can extend this theory to the computing world then ‘mono-technologies’ and monopolies have the same problem as Oaks and Cedars. Computing environments are also as diverse and unique as the Globe’s climate. In such a situation it is the niche technologies which cater to the exact needs of the situation.

But at Interoperability Clearinghouse (ICH), we are working at bringing about true ‘Plug N Play’. With business processes and systems converging, computing systems that drive them can’t be far behind. They can not be in isolated islands, cut off from the rest of the world. The future model is such that the islands, if there are any, will perish!

To bring about Interoperabilty and compatibility, component technologies are the ‘Key’. These coupled with distributed technologies offer the road to perfect ‘Plug N Play’.

Say for instance, a CIO of a hospital wished to make DICOM – based patient images available on the desktop of each resident physician. They would eventually find that it is not a viable option to do it via a web browser in an Intranet infrastructure due to the imaging compatibility.

The keyword is ‘Eventually’. Many man-hours and thousands of dollars might have already been spent before this fact was discovered.

Given ICH’s mission, the CIO must be convinced about the Interoperability issues. In a distributed computing environment it plays a vital role.