PGCon2014 - Final Release

PGCon 2014
The PostgreSQL Conference

Ian Barwick

Ian Barwick has worked with PostgreSQL professionally since 2001, and until very recently was DBA at Japan's second largest stock exchange. Low-level contributor of miniscule patches to PostgreSQL and was once mentioned in the release notes. Now working at 2ndQuadrant.

Ian first encountered PostgreSQL in 2001 when tasked with consolidating some legacy dotcom boomer databases into a unified platform. Despite lacking some basic functionality (ALTER TABLE ... DROP COLUMN anyone?), its no-nonsense attitude to data integrity and the friendly community made it an excellent choice which has gone from strength to strength.

He has deployed PostgreSQL for a variety of purposes such as:

  • Backend database for Germany's largest e-Learning platform
  • Global order management system for a digital image processing company
  • Back office data warehouse for Japan's second-largest stock exchange

Strangely excited by the possibilities offered by Foreign Data Wrappers, Ian is developing one for Firebird and would like to expand their coverage and availability as part of PostgreSQL's transition from a database to a data platform.

Ian currently lives in a house beside a cabbage field in Tokyo, Japan.