Workflow Execution Service (WES)

Describes a protocol for running the same genomic data analysis in multiple cloud environments

Reproducibility of research is key to open science. Developed by the GA4GH Cloud Work Stream, the Workflow Execution Service (WES) API describes a standard protocol for running the same genomic data analysis in different environments and still obtaining the same results. Rather than attempting to transfer data across national and institutional bounds — a process that is cumbersome, resource-intensive, and limited by regulatory constraints — the WES API is part of a larger framework to seamlessly bring algorithms to genomic data.

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Benefits

  • Sends the same workflow to different compute centres and receives reliable, consistent results
  • Enhances reproducibility and reusability of genomic analyses
  • Wraps around a variety of workflow types and engines

Target users

Data generators, data custodians, and developers

A comic describing the challenges of running reproducible research and how the Workflow Execution Service (WES) API helps.
Image summary: Learn how WES helps researchers define workflows in a standard way, allowing them to run their analysis on any workflow engine.
THEME
CATEGORY
TYPE
STATUS
Work Stream
LATEST VERSION
Product Leads
  • Patrick Magee
  • Lee Pang
  • Christopher Llanwarne
Staff Contact
Tools & Platforms

Community resources

Dive deeper into this product! Workflow engines run complex activities to enable large scale genomic analysis. The ability to execute the same scientific tools and workflows across different environments without modification is critical to reproducible research and open science. WES is a protocol that executes portable workflows in a preferred compute environment using data in a preferred storage environment, bringing greater flexibility to genomic analysis pipelines. A key feature of the WES API is that it promotes interoperability by abstracting over different workflow types and engines, thus enabling users to use the same client to trigger the execution of a wide range of portable workflows — regardless of whether they are written in the Common Workflow Language (CWL), the Workflow Definition Language (WDL), Nextflow, or Snakemake.


Date

Title

Info

12 Mar 2024
The document describes the high-level 2024 goals for the GA4GH Cloud Work Stream.

Title

Info

Repeat

Day

Time

Duration

Working meeting for the development of the GA4GH Cloud APIs such as DRS, WES, TES and TRS.

Meets on the second Monday of each month at 6pm BST. Complemented by the Cloud Work Stream meeting (late) meeting, which takes place on the 4th Monday of each month.

Monthly
Monday
18:00 UTC
1 Hour

Date

Version

14 Sep 2023
1 Oct 2018

Title

Related Driver Projects and Organisations

ICGC ARGO
BRCA Challenge
ELIXIR Cloud and AAI
ELIXIR Cloud and AAI
ELIXIR Beacon
NIH Cloud Platform Interoperability (NCPI) effort
Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed)
Autism Sharing Initiative

Don't see your name? Get in touch:

  • Jeremy Adams
    DNAstack
  • Peter Amstutz
    Curii
  • Salvador Capella-Gutierrez
    Barcelona Supercomputing Center
  • Dashrath Chauhan
    EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)
  • James Eddy
    Sage Bionetworks
  • Kyle Ferriter
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
  • Marc Fiume
    DNAstack
  • Ian Fore
    NIH National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
  • David Glazer
    Verily
  • Dean Hartley
    Autism Speaks
  • Alexander Kanitz
    University of Basel
  • Christopher Llanwarne
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
  • Patrick Magee
    DNAstack
  • Venkat Malladi
    Microsoft
  • Tommi Nyrönen
    CSC – IT CENTER FOR SCIENCE
  • Brian O'Connor
    Sage Bionetworks
  • Lee Pang
    Amazon Web Services, Ltd. (AWS)
  • Jimmy Payyappilly
    EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)
  • Shaikh Farhan Rashid
    University Health Network, Canadian Distributed Infrastructure for Genomics (CanDIG)
  • Sarah Salahi
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
  • David Steinberg
    University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Jonathan Tedds
    ELIXIR
  • Susheel Varma
    Information Commissioner's Office
  • Denis Yuen
    Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR)
  • Christina Yung
    Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), Indoc Research

News, events, and more

Catch up with all news and articles associated with Workflow Execution Service (WES).

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3 Jun 2022
How a bot beamed from California to Japan may stop unnecessary mastectomies for breast cancer patients
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8 Jul 2021
GA4GH standards in a global learning health system
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29 Sep 2020
GA4GH 2020 Connection Demos highlight the value of interoperability in genomics 
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