We are facing a rapidly growing capability to collect more and more data regarding our environment. With that, we must have the ability to extract more insightful knowledge about the environmental processes at work on the earth....

This book illustrates important ways in which new parallel hardware is being used to improve the speed and usefulness of a variety of information systems. It contains thirteen original papers that survey the latest trends in performance enhancing architectures for smart information systems....

The use of parallel processing technology in the next generation of Database Management Systems (DBMSs) makes it possible to meet new and challenging requirements. Database technology in rapidly expanding new application areas brings unique challenges such as increased functionality and efficient handling of very large heterogeneous databases....