Abstract
Esprit project DAIDA investigates a KBMS approach to the development and maintenance of data-intensive information systems. The DAIDA environment manages the multilayered description of an information system (requirements analysis, conceptual specification and design, implementation design and realization) as a knowledge base. This KB is created and maintained under substantial use of (metalevel) knowledge-based tools, including those for mapping higher-level specifications to lower-level implementations. This short paper motivates this concept and sketches DAIDA's approach to its realization.