ABSTRACT
Distributed information-intensive applications range from emerging systems like continual queries [5, 32], to remote collaboration [35] and scientific visualization [52], to the operational information systems used by large corporations [38]. A key attribute of these applications is their use in settings in which their continued delivery of services is critical to the ability of society to function. A case in point is the operational information system running the 24/7 operations of the airline partner with which our research center has been cooperating [38]. Another example is the use of telepresence for remote medicine or diagnosis. Other well-known critical settings include information flows in financial applications: online data collection, processing, and distribution in automotive traffic management: and more generally, the rich set of information capture, integration, and delivery services on which end users are increasingly reliant for making even routine daily decisions.
