A survey of new directions in database systems

Summary form only given, as follows. As database system research evolves, there are several enduring themes. One, of course, is how we deal with the largest possible amounts of data. A less obvious theme is optimization - it is an essential ingredient of all modern forms of database system. Because we deal with large volumes of data, we are often forced to process that data in regular ways. But when operations are uniform, there is an opportunity for the use of very-high-level languages, of which SQL is the primary example. However, to make a very-high-level language effective, we need to optimize it well, that is, produce effective query plans from all sorts of queries. In this talk, we shall review the principal directions in which modern database research is going, and in each case talk a bit about the optimization problems. Stream management systems are one very important new area. Another is peer-to-peer database systems. Integration of heterogeneous information, especially in virtual databases, is also a major challenge. XML, XQUERY, and semistructured data in general form yet another research opportunity.