In the recent past, advances in hardware technologies, such as portable computers and wireless communication networks have engendered a new paradigm of computing, called mobile computing. Users carrying their portable (palmtop, laptop) computers equipped with wireless communication devices are capable of accessing shared infrastructure independent of their physical location. They want to gain access to the global information systems while they are roaming around, do their work while they are away from their offices. Such a new environment introduces new technical challenges in the area of information access. Traditional techniques for information access are based on the assumptions that the location of hosts in distributed systems do not change and the connection among hosts also does not change during the computation. In a mobile environment, however, these assumptions are rarely valid or appropriate.

        Researchers in the field of mobile computing focused on networking, operating systems, information management systems and traditional distributed database systems. They have revised the old applications to port them to the new environment. Research in networking and communications include new addressing and routing schemas, support for efficient multicasting and broadcasting, data compression and relocation transparency. Research in operating system addresses security issues, file systems that support disconnected operation and caching techniques. Research in information management system addresses resource management, information acquisition and data distribution. Finally, research in traditional distributed database system focus on replica management, concurrency control and transaction processing.

        Mobile information access involves retrieving information from wired service providers. It is inefficient and some times impossible for a resource poor mobile device connected over a low bandwidth wireless link to coordinate such activity. This requires the data from shared file systems, relational databases, object-oriented databases, and other repositories be accessible to programs running on mobile hosts. Disconnected operation, a concept first conceived and demonstrated in Coda, is an important initial step in mobile computing. In this mode of operation, a client continues to have read and write access to data in its cache during temporary network outages. Transparency is preserved from the viewpoint of applications because the system bears the responsibilities of propagating modifications and detecting update conflicts when connectivity is restored. The ability to operate disconnected can be useful even when connectivity is available.

        The objectives of the highly selective, interactive workshop are to be a source for mobile information systems research and development, and to serve as an outlet for facilitating communication and networking among mobile information systems researchers, practitioners, and professionals across academics, government, industry and students. It is aimed to provide a forum for state-of-the-art development and research, as well as current innovative activities in mobile information systems. The main goal will be to provide timely dissemination of information. WMIS workshop format makes it ideal for presenting and discussing new directions or controversial approaches in mobile information systems like distributed data management in mobile computing and design of distributed file systems for mobile users.
   
        We solicit submissions of position papers that focus primarily on applications and systems and that propose new directions of research, advocate non-traditional approaches to old (or new) ideas, or generate controversy and discussion. The Workshop provides a general platform for academicians, researchers, students, engineers and industries to present their unpublished research findings in any field of Mobile Computing and Systems, and other related areas.