Queries from outer space

Decision makers need high-level information on a wide variety of topics. In particular they are not constrained by the current contents of available information sources. They often ask for data that is not present. On the other hand there is often a large body of relevant, detailed data that could be usefully summarized or abstracted for the decision maker. We articulate major issues that arise with these "queries from outer space" and present the framework for vertical information management developed in response to these issues. The term vertical refers to the delivery of information upwards to decision makers at higher and higher levels of the management hierarchy. The framework supports the specification of: the request for high-level information; the extraction of relevant data; and the derivation of the high-level information.