Data management, knowledge discovery, and knowledge processing are core and hot topics in computer science. They are widely accepted as enabling technologies for modern enterprises, enhancing their performance and their decision making processes. Since the 1990s the Internet has been the outstanding driving force for application development in all domains. An increase in the demand for resource sharing (e. g. , computing resources, s- vices, metadata, data sources) across different sites connected through networks has led to an evolvement of data- and knowledge-management systems from centralized systems to decentralized systems enabling large-scale distributed applications prov- ing high scalability. Current decentralized systems still focus on data and knowledge as their main resource characterized by: heterogeneity of nodes, data, and knowledge autonomy of data and knowledge sources and services large-scale data volumes, high numbers of data sources, users, computing resources dynamicity of nodes These characteristics recognize: (i) limitations of methods and techniques developed for centralized systems (ii) requirements to extend or design new approaches and methods enhancing efficiency, dynamicity, and scalability (iii) development of large scale, experimental platforms and relevant benchmarks to evaluate and validate scaling Feasibility of these systems relies basically on P2P (peer-to-peer) techniques and agent systems supporting with scaling and decentralized control. Synergy between Grids, P2P systems and agent technologies is the key to data- and knowledge-centered systems in large-scale environments.

This, the 24th issue of Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems, contains extended and revised versions of seven papers presented at the 25th International Conference on Database and Expert Systems Applications, DEXA 2014, held in Munich, Germany, in September 2014. Following the conference, and two further rounds of reviewing and selection, six extended papers and one invited keynote paper were chosen for inclusion in this special issue. Topics covered include systems modeling, similarity search, bioinformatics, data pricing, k-nearest neighbor querying, database replication, and data anonymization.

The LNCS journal Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems focuses on data management, knowledge discovery, and knowledge processing, which are core and hot topics in computer science. Since the 1990s, the Internet has become the main driving force behind application development in all domains. An increase in the demand for resource sharing (e.g., computing resources, services, metadata, data sources) across different sites connected through networks has led to an evolution of data- and knowledge-management systems from centralized systems to decentralized systems enabling large-scale distributed applications providing high scalability. This, the 43rd issue of Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems, contains five revised selected regular papers. Topics covered include classification tasks, machine learning algorithms, top-k queries, business process redesign and a knowledge capitalization framework.

The LNCS journal Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems focuses on data management, knowledge discovery, and knowledge processing, which are core and hot topics in computer science. Since the 1990s, the Internet has become the main driving force behind application development in all domains. An increase in the demand for resource sharing (e.g., computing resources, services, metadata, data sources) across different sites connected through networks has led to an evolution of data- and knowledge management systems from centralized systems to decentralized systems enabling large-scale distributed applications providing high scalability. This, the 48th issue of Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems, contains 8 invited papers dedicated to the memory of Prof. Dr. Roland Wagner. The topics covered include distributed database systems, NewSQL, scalable transaction management, strong consistency, caches, data warehouse, ETL, reinforcement learning, stochastic approximation, multi-agent systems, ontology, model-driven development, organisational modelling, digital government, new institutional economics and data governance.

This, the 30th issue of Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems, contains six in-depth papers focusing on the subject of cloud computing. Topics covered within this context include cloud storage, model-driven development, informative modeling, and security-critical systems.

This, the 27th issue of Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems, contains extended and revised versions of 12 papers presented at the Big Data and Technology for Complex Urban Systems symposium, held in Kauai, HI, USA in January 2016. The papers explore the use of big data in complex urban systems in the areas of politics, society, commerce, tax, and emergency management.