Current database technology and computer hardware allow us to gather, store, access, and manipulate massive volumes of raw data in an efficient and inexpensive manner. In addition, the amount of data collected and warehoused in all industries is growing every year at a phenomenal rate. Nevertheless, our ability to discover critical, non-obvious nuggets of useful information in data that could influence or help in the decision making process, is still limited. Knowledge discovery (KDD) and Data Mining (DM) is a new, multidisciplinary field that focuses on the overall process of information discovery from large volumes of data. The field combines database concepts and theory, machine learning, pattern recognition, statistics, artificial intelligence, uncertainty management, and high-performance computing. To remain competitive, businesses must apply data mining techniques such as classification, prediction, and clustering using tools such as neural networks, fuzzy logic, and decision trees to facilitate making strategic decisions on a daily basis.
This volume contains a collection of 16 articles written by experts in the KDD and DM field from the following countries: Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China (Hong Kong), Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, Singapore and USA.