Eckhard D. Falkenberg (born 1942) is a German

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and Professor Emeritus of Information Systems at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...

. He is known for his contributions in the fields of

information modelling An information model in software engineering is a representation of concepts and the relationships, constraints, rules, and operations to specify data semantics for a chosen domain of discourse. Typically it specifies relations between kinds of ...

, especially object-role modeling,

Terry Halpin Terence Aidan (Terry) Halpin (born 1950s) is an Australian computer scientist who is known for his formalization of the object–role modeling notation. Biography Born in Australia, Halpin studied at the University of Queensland starting in ...

(2001) ''Information Modeling and Relational Databases: From Conceptual Analysis to Logical Design''. p. 106

(2010). "Object-Role Modeling: Principles and Benefits." In: ''International Journal of Information System Modeling and Design'' (IJISMD) 1(1). p. 1 and the conceptual foundations of information systems.

Biography

In the early 1960s Falkenberg studied

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

telecommunications engineering Telecommunications engineering is a subfield of electronics engineering which seeks to design and devise systems of communication at a distance. The work ranges from basic circuit design to strategic mass developments. A telecommunication eng ...

at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

, where he received his engineering degree under Gert Hauske and Hans Marko. Later in 1975 he obtained his PhD in

informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems. According to the Association for Computing Machinery, ACM Europe Council and Informatics Europe, informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which the centra ...

at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in civil, mechanical, ind ...

under the supervision of Hans-Jochen Schneider and

Walter Knödel Walter Knödel (May 20, 1926 – October 19, 2018) was an Austrian mathematician and computer scientist. He was a computer science professor at the University of Stuttgart. Born in Vienna, Walter Knödel studied mathematics and physics at the Un ...

. In 1967 Falkenberg had started his career as a development engineer at

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television producer, founded in Berlin in 1903 as a joint venture between Siemens & Halske and the ''AEG (German company), Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ("General electricity company"). Prior to ...

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

, Germany. In 1971 he became research assistant at the computer science department of the University of Stuttgart, where he conducted his PhD research. In those days he published his first articles on modelling of

database systems In computing, a database is an organized collection of Data (computing), data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, Application software, applications, and ...

.''Australian Computer Journal'' (1988) Vol 20. p. 104 In 1976 he moved to the Siemens Research Laboratories in Munich, where he became a research manager. Here he started working on manipulation and specification languages for information systems, and on the design of architecture of information systems. In 1982 on invitation by Sjir Nijssen he moved to the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in Australia, where he was appointed senior lecturer at its computer science department. In 1986 back in Europe Falkenberg was appointed professor of information systems at the computer science department of the

. Among his doctoral students were

Sjaak Brinkkemper Jacobus Nicolaas (Sjaak) Brinkkemper (born Monnickendam, 18 January 1958) is a Dutch computer scientist, and Full Professor of organisation and information at the Department of Information and Computing Sciences of Utrecht University. Biography ...

(1990), Arthur ter Hofstede (1993), Erik Proper (1994) and Patrick van Bommel (1995). Late 1990s Falkenberg retired and moved back to Germany In 1976 Falkenberg joined the work of the

International Federation for Information Processing The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) is a global organisation for researchers and professionals working in the field of computing to conduct research, develop standards and promote information sharing. Established in 19 ...

(IFIP), where he participated in the working group on databases, TC2/WG2.6, and the working group on design and evaluation of information systems, TC8/WG8.1. In 1988 that working group started the task group ''Framework of Information System Concepts (FRISCO),'' in which Falkenberg was elected chairman. This task group is particularly known for the 1998 publication of ''The FRISCO Report.''

Work

Falkenberg's early research had focussed on modelling of

, and moved towards concepts for modelling information, structuring information systems and

information architecture Information architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments; the art and science of organizing and labelling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability; and an emerging ...

Object-Role Model

In his 1975 PhD thesis Falkenberg came up with the concept of the structuring and representation of information at one specific interaction: the interface between the database user and the database management system. He developed this concept into an information model, which he called the Object-Role Model. In cooperation with Sjir Nijssen, Robert Meersman, Dirk Vermeir,

and other colleagues, these concepts were further developed. Eventually the Object-Role Model concept became a basic feature for methods and tools for information analysis and for developing information systems, such as ''Fact-oriented Modeling'', ''Natural-language Information Analysis Method'' (NIAM), and Object-Role Modeling (ORM).

FRISCO Task Group and FRISCO Report

In 1988 the IFIP TC8/WG8.1 working group started a task group to develop a more comprehensive framework for information system development. The motivation, aim and scope was described in a first manifesto in IFIP (1988), which stated: :There is a growing concern within IFIP WG 8.1 about the present situation, where too many fuzzy or ill-defined concepts are used in the information systems area. Scientific as well as practice-related communication is severely distorted and hampered, due to this fuzziness and due to the frequent situation that different communication partners associate different meanings with one and the same term. There is no commonly accepted conceptual reference and terminology, to be applied for defining or explaining existing or new concepts for information systems. The FRISCO Report (1998) eventually defined over 100 related terms, especially the term

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

Boriana Rukanova, ''Business transactions and standards: towards a system of concepts and a method for early problem identification in standard implementation projects.'' University of Twente, 2005. p. 48 and put them in context.

Publications

Falkenberg has authored and co-authored numerous publications in the field. Books, a selection: * Falkenberg, Eckhard D. ''Structuring and Representation of Information at the Interface Between Data Base User and Data Base Management System.'' Diss. Univ. Stuttgart (1975). * Falkenberg, Eckhard D. & Paul Lindgreen (eds.). ''Information System Concepts:'' ''An In-depth Analysis. Proc. IFIP TC8/WG 8.1 Working Conference ISCO 1989.'' North-Holland, 1989. * Falkenberg, Eckhard D., Wolfgang Hesse & Antoni Olivé (eds.). ''Information System Concepts: Towards a Consolidation of Views. Proc. IFIP TC8/WG 8.1 Working Conference ISCO 1995''. Chapman & Hall, 1995. * Falkenberg, Eckhard D., Wolfgang Hesse, Paul Lindgreen, Björn E. Nilsson, J.L. Han Oei,

Colette Rolland Colette Rolland (born 1943, in Dieupentale, Tarn-et-Garonne, France) is a French computer scientist and Professor of Computer Science in the department of Mathematics and Informatics at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. She is a lead ...

Ronald Stamper Ronald K. (Ron) Stamper (1934 - 2024) was a British computer scientist, formerly a researcher in the LSE and emeritus professor at the University of Twente, known for his pioneering work in Organisational semiotics, and the creation of the MEAS ...

, Frans J.M. Van Assche, Alexander A. Verrijn-Stuart & Klaus Voss.
A Framework of Information System Concepts. The FRISCO Report
'' International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), 1998. * Falkenberg, Eckhard D., Kalle Lyytinen & Alexander A. Verrijn-Stuart (eds.). ''Information System Concepts: An Integrated Discipline Emerging.'' ''Proc. IFIP TC8/WG 8.1 Working Conference ISCO 1999.'' Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000. Articles, a selection: * Falkenberg, Eckhard D. "Concepts for Modelling Information." in: ''Proc. IFIP TC2/WG2.6 Working Conference on Modelling in Data Base Management Systems.'' North-Holland, 1976. p. 95-109. * Falkenberg, Eckhard D., J.L. Han Oei & Henderik Alex Proper.
Evolving Information Systems: Beyond Temporal Information Systems
" in: ''Database and Expert Systems Applications.'' Springer Vienna, 1992. p. 282-287.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkenberg, Eckhard D. 1942 births Living people German information theorists University of Stuttgart alumni Academic staff of Radboud University Nijmegen