About Us

The DataBase Group DBGroup is the research database group at the Department of Engineering “Enzo Ferrari” of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; it is led by Professor Sonia Bergamaschi and is composed of about 10 researchers. Its research activities focuses on Intelligent Database Systems, Data Integration, Business Intelligence, Big Data, Semantic Web and Open Linked data, Keyword Search on Databases, Data-Intensive Apps and Web Applications. The DataBase Group coordinated and participated to several international and national research projects.

The list below gives an overview of our research topics. Further details can be found on our projects and our publications  pages.

 

Data Integration

The Data Integration System MOMIS (Mediator EnvirOnment for Multiple Information Sources)  is a data integrarion system able to integrate and query data coming from heterogeneous data sources (structured and semi-structured) in a semi-automatic way, to bring out new information from apparently unrelated existing data.

The main innovative features  of MOMIS are:

  • Easy Querying of distributed legacy systems: existing systems have not to be modified but simply added as a data source to be integrated
  • Virtual approach: no centralized copy of data is needed (as opposed to the data warehouse approach);  the autonomy, security and privacy of the original data sources is preserved
  • Heterogeneous geo-referenced data sources (databases, files , linked open data , etc.) are integrated to provide a global geo-referenced view of the original data sources
  • Rapid deployment of data integration projects by means of a semantic ETL, able to semi-automatically  discover mappings among data sources based on their  metadata
  • Data Provenance, i.e., management of information about where data come from and how it is derived at the global level, to assess the quality and reliability of data.

 

An open source version of MOMIS is delivered and maintained by the academic UNIMORE spin-off DataRiver.

Ongoing Funded Projects:

  • MOMIS-Datariver Data Integrator 
    DATARIVER received a 3 years Research grant from the Italian Economic Development Minister (MISE) to support the research and development of an advanced data integration system which extends MOMIS with the capability of integrating multimedia data and empowers the semantic ETL.
    (Bando "FIT Start-Up" Fondo per l’Innovazione Tecnologica of the Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, L. 46/82.)
  • MOMIS is currently used in the "Open linked data dell'Osservatorio Giovani della Regione Emilia-Romagna" project  in the Open Data and  Open Government research area.

 

Keyword-based search

Typically, structured data sources are queried by means of structured languages, thus making possible to access data only for advanced users who are familiar with the syntax of the language and are able to formulate structuredqueries . Systems based on keywords do not require such knowledge, enabling the casual user to access the data.

 Ongoing Funded Projects:

 

 

Big Data

Big Data is the term for data sets that are so large and complex that they are difficult to capture, curate, manage, and process with current data-management tools. If the Big Data process can be effectively developed and controlled, its potential benefits to business, government, and society are huge. The Big Data phenomenon also contains real concerns and potential dangers, which need to be identified, debated, and resolved. Global society will certainly benefit if we can fully understand Big Data and use it for the common good.

 Ongoing Funded Projects:


 


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