Keywords
scientific workflow software, governance, information infrastructure
Start Date
1-7-2010 12:00 AM
Abstract
Scientific workflows (SWF) are an emerging approach that enables scientists tocompose and execute complex, distributed scientific processes. The approach is premisedon the ability to compose, publish, share and reuse workflows across distributedcommunities of collaborating scientists. Scientific workflow software (SWFS) provides atechnical framework to compose, publish, and reuse SWFs together with data, functionalityand computational and other resources upon which they rely. Tools and components arebuilt using service oriented architecture approaches with data and functionality exposedthrough services. Together, interoperable components from different initiatives forminformation infrastructure (which as socio-technical endeavours, present specificgovernance challenges. As workflows, and the resources upon which they rely aredistributed and under the ownership of different people and organisations, an enablinggovernance framework is required. Governance comprises authority structures, roles,policies, processes, and mechanism that enable collective decision-making, andcollaborative action to achieve common goals. This paper presents key challenges relatedto the governance of socio-technical aspects of scientific workflows and workbenches.These include the ‘human activity systems’ that enable the design, creation and sharing ofworkflows and the technical governance of workflows, and underlying resourcesthroughout their lifecycles. The paper also presents a conceptual model for scientificworkflow governance and discusses its application in the Hydrologists’ Workbench (HWB)project.
Hydrologists workbench: A governance model for scientific workflow environments
Scientific workflows (SWF) are an emerging approach that enables scientists tocompose and execute complex, distributed scientific processes. The approach is premisedon the ability to compose, publish, share and reuse workflows across distributedcommunities of collaborating scientists. Scientific workflow software (SWFS) provides atechnical framework to compose, publish, and reuse SWFs together with data, functionalityand computational and other resources upon which they rely. Tools and components arebuilt using service oriented architecture approaches with data and functionality exposedthrough services. Together, interoperable components from different initiatives forminformation infrastructure (which as socio-technical endeavours, present specificgovernance challenges. As workflows, and the resources upon which they rely aredistributed and under the ownership of different people and organisations, an enablinggovernance framework is required. Governance comprises authority structures, roles,policies, processes, and mechanism that enable collective decision-making, andcollaborative action to achieve common goals. This paper presents key challenges relatedto the governance of socio-technical aspects of scientific workflows and workbenches.These include the ‘human activity systems’ that enable the design, creation and sharing ofworkflows and the technical governance of workflows, and underlying resourcesthroughout their lifecycles. The paper also presents a conceptual model for scientificworkflow governance and discusses its application in the Hydrologists’ Workbench (HWB)project.
