Consistent terminology-a problem in standardisation. State of art report of enterprise engineering

Global markets and the word-wide collaboration and cooperation of enterprises of all sizes have increased the need for standards-technical standards for products and standards for doing business in collaborative and cooperative environments. The latter are concerned with the communication aspects of information and communication technology (ICT), such as protocols, safety and security as well as the syntax and semantics of the communication content. The sender and receiver have to trust the communication itself and both have to have the same understanding of the meaning of the exchanged information. Unfortunately, standards are developed independently by different standards organisations using incompatible and inconsistent terminologies, thereby hampering the deployment of existing standards and the development of new ones. The paper presents the results of an analysis of the terminology used in international standards in the area of enterprise engineering and integration, which highlights problems of current terminology. The area of enterprise engineering and integration has been chosen for its specific needs for consistent terminology. Only if information exchange is based on syntax and semantic common to both parties can collaboration or cooperation 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 a technological and human level