Astrophysics data resources & services: the interoperable way

Astrophysics (at large), as a data driven science, had to face the hurdles of digital data sharing since the beginning of computers and network solutions. The need of integrating observations from different observatories to reach a scientific result made it clear that understanding each other's techniques and results was crucial and required a common understanding, of technical aspects first, of semantics later. An historical overview of the solutions set up by the astronomical community will provide a guide to the current status and challenges of the open interoperable standards in the astrophysical domain.