Software tools processing partially common set of data should share an understanding of what these data mean. Since ontologies have been used to express formally a shared understanding of information, we argue that they can be used to improve integration…

We proposed her a technique, which can be employed within the methodology know as process reengineering. This technique was applied in a government environment, which included an Information System and Geographical Information System, developed with financial support from The World…

Although researchers noted the importance of effective communication among stakeholders, it continues to be a challenge for requirements engineering. Communication can be considered as a management tool since communication allows organisation’s personnel to produce a cohesive enterprise view. In this…

Data base management evolved during the sixties and seventies. The evolution period was protracted. Many driving forces impacted the evolution and it is the aim of this paper to analyze these driving forces (some technical and some political) and to…

This book provides an excellent foundation for the principles of database and data management. It explains some of the more difficult concepts fairly well. The book is meant for an introductory course in database management which is usually required as…

The term “Federated Databases” refers to the data integration of distributed, autonomous and heterogeneous databases. However, a federation can also include information systems, not only databases. When integrating data, several issues must be addressed. Here, we focus on the problem…

Product-line architectures, i.e. a software architecture and component set shared by a family of products, represents a promising approach to achieving reuse of software. Several companies are initiating or have recently adopted a product-line architecture. However, little experience is available…

Using COTS software promises faster time-to-market, which can yield substantial advantages over competitors with regards to earlier placement of a new product on a market. At the same time, component-based software introduces risks, such as unknown quality properties of the…

During the last years a lot of projects and lines of research have emerged from different proposals trying to find the best way to reach data integration. Two powerful techniques have appeared separately – ontology and contextual information – in…

The star model, broadly used in data warehouse modeling, is a logical model, so its representation is strongly dependent on the database technology used for its implementation, usually relational. The method recommended for designing a dimensional system would be the…