Interoperability is the ability of separate systems to exchange information and use what they receive. It can link products that work together, or rival services. It can run one way or both ways.
Table of Contents
Types of interoperability
- Technical: the hardware and code can connect and pass data.
- Data: each system can interpret what it receives, through shared formats and meanings.
- Human: people can make use of what is exchanged.
- Institutional: laws, contracts and standards bodies give the right and the rules to connect.
Key factors
- Scope and direction. It is rarely all or nothing. A service may share text but not video, or let rivals in without letting its own users out.
- Incentives. Firms whose products complement others’ gain from opening up. A firm leading a market with strong network effects has reason to resist.
- Regulation. Lawmakers increasingly require it, often from the largest platform only.
- Speed of change. Shared features need agreement, so upgrades across connected services can slow down, as every party has to move together.
Examples
Apple. In March 2025 the European Commission told Apple, under the Digital Markets Act, to open nine iPhone features to other firms’ devices. They include notifications on rival smartwatches and easier pairing for headphones. Interoperability that Apple had kept for its own products became a legal duty.
UK Open Banking. Since January 2018 the UK’s nine largest banks have had to let customers share account data with approved apps through standard APIs. By late 2025 users had made about 16 million connections, for budgeting, loan checks and payments straight from a bank account. A legal duty created technical and data interoperability across a whole sector.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between interoperability and standards?
A standard is one way to achieve interoperability. Systems can also connect through bilateral agreements, adapters or rules imposed by a regulator.
Is interoperability the same as data portability?
No. Portability lets you take your data and leave. Interoperability lets you stay where you are and still connect to other services and their users.
How does interoperability affect competition?
It lowers the cost of trying a rival, because users can connect or switch without losing contacts, data or devices. That weakens the hold of the largest platform and gives new entrants a fairer start.
Who pays for interoperability?
Usually the firm that opens up, which builds and maintains the interfaces. The EU Digital Markets Act requires the operating systems of the largest platforms to give other firms some interoperability free of charge.