Workshop on the Science of Design for Information Systems

Supported by the
National Science Foundation

Workshop Organizers

Overview and Goals

Information Systems Design has traditionally encompassed methodologies for modeling the data underlying an enterprise and the relationships between data elements; the design of structures to store data; the design of a conceptual view of data as seen by other program components, which may differ from how the data is actually stored; and the design of efficient and robust techniques for accessing and modifying data, especially in the presence of data copies, distribution, and concurrent access. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in how to design systems that access and integrate multiple sources of data; systems that deal with complex data such as multimedia and text; applications involving spatiotemporal information and mobility; applications involving large-scale replication and distribution; applications involving complex workflows and notifications; and so on.

This is an appropriate time to assess the state of the art in information systems design and to develop a prioritized roadmap for future research and development in this critical area. To this end, we organized a Workshop on the Science of Design for Information Systems, held immediately following the NSF IDM PI meeting in Seattle, Washington, September 16-17, 2003. The objective of the SDIS 2003 workshop was to bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss Information Systems Design, and its role in the broader context of Software Systems Design.

The outcome of the SDIS 2003 workshop is a report outlining the discussions, together with specific recommendations to the CISE program on the following issues:

1. Research challenges in developing a rigorous science of information systems design and translating it to practice. Specifically, identify existing areas of strength and weakness in the theory and practice of database and information systems design, place these within the broader context of software system design, and identify promising directions for future study.
2. The skill set and experience that must be brought together to advance the science of information systems design. Specifically, identify disciplines and groups within academia and industry that must work closely to achieve the desired advances.
3. NSF-supported activities that could facilitate progress in this area. Specifically, what kinds of funding modalities are required, such as single-investigator or small-team grants, larger collaborative efforts, university-industry partnerships, long-term focus groups and studies of organizational behavior, and so on.

The workshop was be organized by Raghu Ramakrishnan, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, in conjunction with Philip Bernstein at Microsoft and Alon Halevy, Univ. of Washington-Seattle, and included participants from academia and industry.

This workshop was supported by the National Science Foundation's Intelligent Data Management program under the grant IIS-0348699. All opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations in any material resulting from this workshop are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.