Seqera, the leading platform for scientific data analysis in the life sciences space and creator of Nextflow, recently published the results of its fourth annual State of the Workflow survey measuring trends in workflow management for bioinformatics and scientific computing. Most notably, this report highlights industry shifts in attitudes toward open science, a first glance at the pivotal role open science is already playing to advance scientific knowledge.
The fourth annual survey was the first to ask the prominent Nextflow community about their perspective around open science and its role in their research. A clear majority (about 82 percent of respondents) stated that open science is already fundamental to their research.
“Our most recent State of the Workflow results make it clear that open science is already making a significant impact on the scientific community,” said Evan Floden, CEO and co-founder of Seqera. “Supporting researchers by providing them with best-in-class open source software has been the driver behind everything that we do at Seqera. We’re enthusiastic about the progress we’re seeing in the open science space and its adoption among researchers in life sciences, from biotech to academia, and beyond, and expect to see this number continue to grow.”
The commitment to open science among Nextflow users highlights not just its immediate benefits, but also reflects a broader cultural shift in how scientific research is conducted. By prioritizing transparency and collaboration, the community is driving innovations that are more reproducible and verifiable.
Additionally, the 2024 report benchmarks cloud adoption among bioinformaticians, spotlighting challenges related to the complexities of today’s expansive scientific data, and presents current user preferences for workflow management across different sectors of scientific research.
Some key findings of the 2024 report include:
- Bioinformatics analyses are increasingly moving to public cloud, driven by fast adoption among for-profit companies. Nearly 60% of respondents still use high-performance computing clusters, but 73% of biotech firms now favor public cloud for better scalability and flexibility.
- As the industry scales its workflows, multi-cloud deployments are on the rise to enhance performance and flexibility needs. By 2024, 14% of cloud batch service users were running workloads in two clouds, and 4% in three clouds, reflecting the growing trend toward leveraging multiple cloud providers for optimized performance, cost efficiency, and improved security.
- Open Science is fundamental to advancing science for everyone. Open Science enhances collaboration, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, with 63% of users seeing time savings and 42% recognizing financial benefits. This commitment reflects a cultural shift toward more transparent and reproducible scientific research.
By sharing these trends, Seqera aims to equip researchers, developers, and organizations with the knowledge needed to leverage Nextflow effectively, fostering innovation and collaboration within the bioinformatics community.
This report is based on a survey conducted in May 2024 among Seqera’s Nextflow community and nf-core channels, which received 608 responses. The 2024 survey results and prior annual survey results can be found on the Seqera blog: https://seqera.io/blog/.
About Seqera
Seqera makes complex data analysis accessible at any scale by providing the tools to drive innovation in genomics, global health, and beyond. The company provides software for scientists solving today’s most complex and important challenges from pioneering innovative therapeutics to unveiling the secrets of our universe. The journey began a decade ago with Nextflow, their flagship open software that helps over 100,000 global scientists conduct science faster, on larger datasets, and with more confidence and flexibility than ever before. Today, Seqera consolidates fragmented data and diverse computing resources into a unified platform. Their modern biotech stack is trusted by 150 leading life sciences organizations including AstraZeneca, Roche, and Johnson & Johnson.
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