Astronomy, as many other scientific disciplines, is facing a true data deluge which is bound to change
both the praxis and the methodology of every day research work. The emerging field of astroinformatics,
while on the one end appears crucial to face the technological challenges, on the other is
opening new exciting perspectives for new astronomical discoveries through the implementation of
advanced data mining procedures. The complexity of astronomical data and the variety of scientific
problems, however, call for innovative algorithms and methods as well as for an extreme usage of ICT
technologies.