In America, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control is one of the world's largest users of name-matching technology.

ECONOMIST: Computing: What's in a name? | The

In 1994 it led a movement to do away with proprietary controls that had prevented customers from, say, mixing and matching its controllers with other manufacturers' peripherals, like sensors, monitors and actuators (powered doohickeys that control valves, levers and conveyors).

FORBES: Choreographer of the Assembly Line