-The Arrowhead project aims to address the technical and applicative issues associated with cooperative automation based on Service Oriented Architectures. The problems of developing such kind of systems are mainly due to the lack of adequate development and service documentation methodologies, which would ease the burden of reusing services on different applications. The Arrowhead project proposes a technical framework to efficiently support the development of such systems, which includes several tools for documentation of services and to support the development of SOA-based installations. The work presented in this paper describes the approach which has been developed for the first generation pilots to support the documentation of their structural services. Each service, system and system-of-systems within the Arrowhead Framework must be documented and described in such way that it can be implemented, tested and deployed in an interoperable way. This paper presents the first steps of realizing the Arrowhead vision for interoperable services, systems and systems-of-systems.

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The Internet is undoubtedly permeating and transforming all aspects of our economies and societies. It is a remarkable catalyst for creativity, collaboration and innovation and more broadly for the development of our economies and societies [ERCIM, 2009]. In this context, collaboration and interoperability are pervasive subjects today as organizations strive to achieve competitive advantage in the global market fostered by the development of the new economies of scale.In the COIN IP project [IST-216256], a strategy based on readiness assessment to adopt best collaboration and interoperability practices has been implemented following the maturity models approach.The aim of this paper is to present a methodology inspired on maturity models. This methodology shows the approach used to assess organizations on their readiness for collaboration and interoperability and to guide those organizations to adopt best practices for collaboration and interoperability in networked environments. Business is undergoing a transformation from the industrial to the information age where Information Technologies (IT) opens up possibilities for new business solutions; offering exceptional opportunities for innovative business models and forms. Indeed, collaboration is one of the global trends in business nowadays [Santos, 1., Schuster, S., Vergara, M., Alonso, 1., 2008]. Pushed by the strength of emerging competitors and increasingly demanding customers, organizations are engaging into collaborative practices in order to face those threats through cost reductions, increased flexibility and focusing on core competences. Collaboration forms can be anything from a stable relationship among partners in an extended supply chain to a more ephemeral cooperation as in a virtual organization, and can also occur within organization boundaries as well, as a result of off shoring processes for example. Organizations are thus transforming themselves into networked organizations. These increasing collaborative practices bring about interoperability clashes at different levels, as networked organizations require interoperability between their ICT systems. Therefore, Collaboration and Interoperability are identified as key orgamsmg principles in information-based and knowledge based economies [Lefrere, P, Mason, J, 2003]. Through collaboration common goals and benefit are discerned and pursued; duplication of effort is minimised; innovation is stimulated. Achieving Enterprise Interoperability demands use of networks in ways that harness the aggregate capacity of disparate systems, applications and serVIces. Furthermore, based on this analysis we have identified seven categories that ECMM should cover and that form the core scope of the model: Project and Product Management: This domain contains the cross-project and product activities related to defining, planning, developing, risks management and quality assurance. Business Process and Strategy: This domain covers areas that support business process management and financial aspects. Customer Managem...