This volume contains the papers presented at the Intemational Conference on Object Oriented Information Systems 00lS'94, held at South Bank University, London, December 19 - 21, 1994. In response to our call for papers, a total 85 papers from 24 different countries were submitted. Each paper was evaluated by at least two Program Committee members and an additional reviewer. Together, we selected 41 papers for presentation at the conference and inclusion in the Proceedings. Also included are the keynote addresses by Peter Gray and Michael Jackson. The other submissions were recommended for presentation in the poster sessions. Peter Gray, our invited speaker, evaluates the problems of object-oriented systems and data independence by looking at how object oriented database applications are failing to perceive its benefits, and instead rely too much on encapsulation. He suggests alternative kinds of object storage to preserve data independence. The second invited speaker, Michael Jackson describes a way of solving problems, by focusing directly on the problems themselves, their components and structures and on the relationships between the problem and the solution method. He discusses a particular view of the role of object-orientation in software development.

This volume contains the papers presented at the Third International Conference on Object Oriented Information Systems (00lS'96) which was held at South Bank University, London. The keynote addresses, by Professor Colette Roland and Mr Ian Graham, are also included. The acceptance rate for papers was around 47%. The papers for the Industry Day were invited papers. The keynote paper by Professor Roland analyses the challenges in object modelling, particularly the impact of requirements engineering for conceptual modelling. She suggests innovative research perspectives to enhance and extend object oriented approaches in order to deal with the emerging area of requirements engineering. The keynote paper presented by Mr. Graham focuses on the problems and solutions for adopting use cases. In his paper, Graham illustrates the theoretical issues and practical problems of use cases, and highlights them using examples. The papers included in this volume cover different aspects of object modelling, object oriented software development, object databases, and interoperability. In the modelling session, Ram, et al. outline an extended object model to tackle the problems of capturing complex requirements of office information systems. Simons' paper concentrates on core object modelling concepts and presents a mathematical theory of class.

OOIS'95 (Object-Oriented Information Systems '95) contains contributions from leading researchers and practitioners working on object oriented technology and its application in information systems design and development. The book has a strong practical focus and contains much technical insight of particular relevance to professionals working in the field. The papers cover two main areas of the field: academic research trends into object oriented concepts and principles, and state of the art applications in industry. Among the specific topics covered are modelling, knowledgebases, software development, interface design, object databases, distributed databases, and emerging object technologies. All those working in the field of information technology will find the book a useful source of reference.

The Sorbonne University is very proud to host this year the oms Conference on Object Oriented Information Systems. There is a growing awareness of the importance of object oriented techniques, methods and tools to support information systems engineering. The term information systems implies that the computer based systems are designed to provide adequate and timely information to human users in organizations. The term engineering implies the application of a rigorous set of problem solving approaches analogous to those found in traditional engineering disciplines. The intent of this conference is to present a selected number of those approaches which favor an object oriented view of systems engineering. oms '98 is the fifth edition of a series of conferences. Starting in 1994 in London, this series evolved from a British audience to a truly European one. The goal is to build a world wide acknowledged forum dedicated to object oriented information systems engineering. This conference is organized with the aim to bring together researchers and practitioners in Information Systems, Databases and Software Engineering who have interests in object oriented information systems. The objective is to advance understanding about how the object technology can empower information systems in organizations, on techniques for designing effective and efficient information systems and methods and development tools for information systems engineering. The conference aims also at discussing the lessons learned from large scale projects using objects. The call for oms was given international audience.

The papers published here highlight the contributions of leading researchers in the field who are working with object-oriented technology, theory and practice. Among the topics to be covered are: object-relational data technology; distributed object computing; patterns and frameworks; concepts and methodologies; multimedia systems; object-0riented metrics; object reuse; object ontologies; business process re-design; knowledge management; object database management systems; and interoperability issues. Areas of significant interest to industry, especially in providing innovative directions for the development of next generation systems, are also covered.

New object-oriented technologies have been conceived and implemented over the past decade in order to manage complexity inherent in information systems development. Research has spanned from information systems modelling languages (UML and OML) to databases (ODMG), from programming languages (Java) to middleware technology (CORBA). A more widespread use of the Internet has led to the emergence and integration of various other technologies, such as XML and database connectivity tools, allowing businesses to access and exchange information over the Internet. The main theme of OOIS 2000 was "Object-Technology and New Business Opportunities" and focused on research conducted in the area of effective information systems development for the promotion of e-commerce. Papers were invited from academics and practitioners. The thirty-nine papers accepted for oms 2000 are included in these proceedings. It is nice to see this year that the shift from centralised to distributed systems and the widespread access and use of the Internet has allowed the advent of new opportunities for businesses to exploit, in the form of e-commerce.

For the ?rst time four workshops have been held in conjunction with the 8th Object-Oriented Information Systems conference, OOIS 2002, to encourage - teraction between researchers and practitioners. Workshop topics are, of course, inline with the conference’s scienti?c scope and provide a forum for groups of researchers and practitioners to meet together more closely and to exchange opinions and advanced ideas, and to share preliminary results on focused issues in an atmosphere that fosters interaction and problem solving. The conference hosted four one-day workshops. The four selected workshops were fully in the spirit of a workshop session hosted by a main conference. Indeed, OOIS deals with all the topics related to the use of object-oriented techniques for the development of information systems. The four workshops are very speci?c and contribute to enlarging the spectrum of the more general topics treated in the main conference. The ?rst workshop focused on a very speci?c and key c- cept of object-oriented development, the specialization/generalization hierarchy. The second one explored the use of “non-traditional” approaches (at the edge of object-oriented techniques, such as aspects, AI, etc.) to improve reuse. The third workshop dealt with optimization in Web-based information systems. And ?nally the fourth workshop investigated issues related to model-driven software development.

The Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA) conferences have established themselves as a platform for bringing together researchers and practitioners from various backgrounds and all regions of the world to exchange ideas, experiences and opinions in a friendly and stimulating environment. The papers presented at the conference represent recent developments in the field and important steps towards shaping the future of applied computer science and information systems. DEXA covers a broad field: all aspects of databases, knowledge based systems, knowledge management, web-based systems, information systems, related technologies and their applications. Once again there were a good number of submissions: out of 183 papers that were submitted, the program committee selected 92 to be presented. In the first year of this new millennium DEXA has come back to the United Kingdom, following events in Vienna, Berlin, Valencia, Prague, Athens, London, Zurich, Toulouse, Vienna and Florence. The past decade has seen several revolutionary developments, one of which was the explosion of Internet-related applications in the areas covered by DEXA, developments in which DEXA has played a role and in which DEXA will continue to play a role in its second decade, starting with this conference.

Spine title: WADT '97.