caBIG compatibility review system: software to support the evaluation of applications using defined interoperability criteria.

The caBIG Compatibility Review System (CRS) is a web-based application to support compatibility reviews, which certify that software applications that pass the review meet a specific set of criteria that allow them to interoperate. The CRS contains workflows that support both semantic and syntactic reviews, which are performed by the caBIG Vocabularies and Common Data Elements (VCDE) and Architecture workspaces, respectively. The CRS increases the efficiency of compatibility reviews by reducing administrative overhead and it improves uniformity by ensuring that each review is conducted according to a standard process. The CRS provides metrics that allow the review team to evaluate the level of data element reuse in an application, a first step towards quantifying the extent of harmonization between applications. Finally, functionality is being added that will provide automated validation of checklist criteria, which will further simplify the review process.