The NIMS Guiding Principle of Standardization is essential to interoperability.

No jurisdiction has all of the resources that could conceivably be needed during a major incident. Interoperable resources can be moved and assigned across jurisdictional boundaries. This expands the resource pool and increases the likelihood of an effective response.

Strategies to ensure interoperability include:

• Where national standards exist for connections, fittings, and hardware, these should be adopted by all jurisdictions.
• When possible, combine orders for standardized equipment.
• Where possible, make collective bulk orders to help ensure both best price and interoperability.