Salvation through Harmony in Montreal

“Salvation through Harmony” is Montreal’s motto and appears on the city’s coat of arms intended to illustrate that different communities have co-existed in harmony for nearly 400 years: a fleur de lis for the French, a rose for the English, a thistle for the Scots, a shamrock for the Irish, and a beaver for the Canadians.

First, the Amerindians and the French coexisted – then the British, the Scottish, the Irish, the East Europeans, Italians, Greeks and now people from every continent … and today the Montreal School Board welcomes children born in 188 different countries. Talk about interoperability!

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Operable or Interoperable Communications? The Chicken or the Egg?

Operable or interoperable – which came first? A few definitions to get you thinkin’:

• Communications = a process of transferring information from one entity to another
• Operable = able to operate/perform your duties
• Interoperable = able to exchange and use information
• Interoperability = ability to work with each other

With all the talk of communications interoperability and all the money we’ve spent since 9/11, you’d think this problem has been solved. Perhaps it has in some specific cases, but for the majority of U.S. communities – despite the best of intentions – interoperability as well as basic communications operability is still lacking as a fundamental cornerstone of our local, regional, and national preparedness.

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