CAiSE*99 is the 11th in the series of International Conferences on Advanced Information Systems Engineering. The aim of the CAiSE series is to give - searchers and professionals from universities, research, industry, and public - ministrationthe opportunityto meetannuallytodiscussevolvingresearchissues and applications in the el d of information systems engineering; also to assist young researchersand doctoralstudents in establishing relationships with senior scientists in their areas of interest. StartingfromaScandinavianorigininthelate1980's,CAiSEhasevolvedinto atrulyinternationalconferencewithaworldwideauthorandattendancelist.The CAiSE*99 programlisted contributions from 19 countries, from four continents! These contributions, 27 full papers, 12 short research papers, six workshops, and four tutorials, were carefully selected from a total of 168 submissions by the international program committee. A special theme of CAiSE*99 was 'Component-based information systems engineering'. Component-based approaches mark the maturity of any engine- ing discipline. However,transferingthis idea to the complex anddiverse worldof information systems has proven more di cult than expected.
Despite numerous proposals from object-oriented programming, design patterns and frameworks, customizable reference models and standard software, requirements engine- ing and business re-engineering, web-based systems, data reduction strategies, knowledge management, and modularized education, the question of how to make component-oriented approaches actually work in information systems - mains wide open.