A Workflow Engine for the Execution of Scientific Protocols

Abstract

We present the execution engine of the SemanticBio system, an integration solution that provides scientists support to express and execute scientific protocols. In SemanticBio scientific workflows are first expressed as conceptual workflows using scientific ontologies. Conceptual workflows are then translated in a semi-automated process into executable workflows, composed of calls to coordinated web services. Once the user has selected an executable workflow that meets the protocol needs, the SemanticBio execution engine supports the execution of data flow-coordinated tasks, i.e., the execution of a task is only based on the availability of its inputs. This engine is a lightweight, yet flexible approach to the execution of such workflows. Our approach addresses the problem of semantic interoperability of scientific resources publicly available on the web.