Evolution and Change in Data Management - Issues and Directions

One of the fundamental aspects of information and database systems is that they change. Moreover, in so doing they evolve, although the manner and quality of this evolution is highly dependent on the mechanisms in place to handle it. While changes in data are handled well, changes in other aspects, such as structure, rules, constraints, the model, etc., are handled to varying levels of sophistication and completeness. In order to study this in more detail a workshop on Evolution and Change in Data Management was held in Paris in November 1999. It brought together researchers from a wide range of disciplines with a common interest in handling the fundamental characteristics and the conceptual modelling of change in information and database systems. This short report of the workshop concentrates on some of the general lessons that emerged during the four days.