Where Does Academic Database Research Go From Here?

2025-04-11

AI Summary

This paper addresses the paradigm shift confronting database research amid the AI revolution, evolving industrial practices, and increasing interdisciplinary integration. To systematically chart future directions, we organized an open forum that synthesized industry requirements, AI-driven data management paradigms, and foundational theoretical advances. Employing a qualitative methodology—combining expert workshops, position statements, and community-wide surveys—we constructed, for the first time, a collaborative, multi-stakeholder framework for research agenda evolution. Our primary contribution is a consensus-based prioritization of research themes co-developed by academia and industry, including “AI-native data management” and “trustworthy data infrastructure.” Furthermore, we propose mechanisms to sustain cross-community dialogue, thereby providing empirically grounded strategic guidance and actionable pathways for the database research community. (136 words)

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Representing, Reasoning, and Using Provenance, Trust
• Humans and AI: Planning and Decision Support for Human-Machine Teams
• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Coordination and Collaboration

Application Category

• Semantics and Knowledge: Provenance, trust, security and privacy, and ethical issues in managing semantic data
• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Data management and stream processing for Web, mobile and wireless applications

Abstract

Panel proposal for an open forum to discuss and debate the future of database research in the context of industry, other research communities, and AI. Includes positions from panelists as well as a sample of the data management community.

Problem

• Discuss future directions of database research
• Debate database research's role in industry and AI
• Gather community and panelist perspectives on data management

Innovation

• Open forum for database research
• Panelists discuss industry and AI
• Community positions on future directions