Knowledge Systems: A Synthesis of Database Systems and Expert Systems Technologies

Traditional database technology includes rigorous, formal techniques for the analysis, design and subsequent maintenance of the “information component” of database applications. By contrast, the database rules tend, in practice, to be handled by ad hoc methods. However, research in Expert Systems technology has generated techniques for handling rules in a systematic, rigorous way. We propose that these two technologies can benefit greatly from the other and can be effectively synthesized into one; thus leading to “knowledge systems”.