General Electric's Integrated Data Store (IDS)

Developed by Charles W. Bachman, IDS was one of the first database management systems based on the network model, allowing data to be linked in a more complex, graph-like structure than simple hierarchies.

Significance

It was a pioneering step towards abstracting data management from application programs, earning Bachman a Turing Award. It demonstrated the viability of programmatic data access beyond flat files.