Message from the General Chairs The last two decades have seen a radical change in the way computers and computing are embedded in society. Historically, the Personal Computer and the Internet were the milestones that changed both the computer industry and the way society perceived computers. Today, mobility and the pervasive use of computing devices have resulted in a fundamental change in paradigm. Data is no longer static, residing on a disk and on a personal computer. Now data is something available everywhere, through a multitude of commodity devices and constantly broadcast through a variety of channels. The impact on industry and on the way we work with data has become obvious. For instance, portable digital music players are forcing the music industry to change its business model, soon the same will happen with video and television. Similarly, some major telecommunication companies have recently embarked in an effort to replace the old phone network with an IP based solution for all forms of communication, thereby blurring even further the boundaries between communication and computation. The International Conference on Mobile Data Management lies at the heart of all these changes. In the same way that the Personal Computer and the first spreadsheet revolutionized the industry, the new world of pervasive and ubiquitous access to information requires new approaches to the way we deal with data. And these new approaches need appropriate venues to be presented and discussed. Taking place in Mannheim, Germany, MDM 2007 aims at serving as both as a top research conference as well as a catalyst for new ideas and increased interactions between research and industry. With an excellent technical program encompassing research papers and demonstrators, and the complement of several seminars and workshops dedicated, MDM 2007 has become the leading research venue for innovative research in all aspects data management related to mobile, wearable, and pervasive computing. The success of MDM 2007 is nevertheless not due solely to the importance of the area. Organizing a conference requires the concerted effort of many individuals during a prolonged period of time, often extending well beyond the conference itself. As the Conference Chairs, we would like express our thanks and gratitude to all those who have helped to make MDM 2007 possible. First and foremost to the PC Chairs: Christian Becker, Christian Jensen, and Jianwen Su, who have put together an excellent technical program. The program has been complemented by an exciting demo track thanks to the efforts of Dieter Pfoser. Panels, seminars, and workshops round up the program and have helped to make the conference more attractive. The have been coordinated by Agnes Voisard, Ralf Hartmut Güting, and Birgitta König-Ries, respectively. Special thanks go to Daniela Nicklas for her efforts with the proceedings and to Torben Weis for taking care of financial and budget matters. Klemens Böhm and Arno Jacobsen were in charge of publicity and advertising the conference. Last but not least, we want to thank the local organizers, who have done a great job in taking care of all the menial but often cumbersome aspects of running a conference: Christian Becker, Wolfgang Effelsberg, Armin Heinzl, and Martin Schader.

Looking forward to seeing you in Mannheim!

Gustavo Alonso and Pedro Jose Marron General Chairs