Shadow Theory: Data Model Design for Data Integration

Shadow Theory: Data Model Design for Data Integration
Jason T. Liu*
(Draft. Date:9/12/2012)
For data integration in information ecosystems, semantic heterogeneity is a known difficulty. In this paper, we propose Shadow Theory as the philosophical foundation to address this issue. It is based on the notion of shadows in Plato's Allegory of the Cave. What we can observe are just shadows, and meanings of shadows are mental entities that only exist in viewers' cognitive structures. With enterprise customer data integration example, we proposed six design principles and algebra to support required operations.

Từ khóa: information ecosystems, data integration, Shadow Theory, six design principles, Data Model Design for Data Integration, Shadow Theory: Data Model Design for Data Integration