Overture: an open-source genomics data platform

Next-generation sequencing has created many new technological challenges in organizing and distributing genomics datasets, which now can routinely reach petabyte scales. Coupled with data-hungry artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable genomics datasets have never been more valuable. While major archives like the Genomics Data Commons, Sequence Reads Archive, and European Genome-Phenome Archive have improved researchers' ability to share and reuse data, and general-purpose repositories such as Zenodo and Figshare provide valuable platforms for research data publication, the diversity of genomics research precludes any one-size-fits-all approach. In many cases, bespoke solutions are required, and despite funding agencies and journals increasingly mandating reusable data practices, researchers still lack the technical support needed to meet the multifaceted challenges of data reuse.

Overture bridges this gap by providing open-source software for building and deploying customizable genomics data platforms. Its architecture consists of modular microservices, each of which is generalized with narrow responsibilities that together combine to create complete data management systems. These systems enable researchers to organize, share, and explore their genomics data at any scale. Through Overture, researchers can connect their data to both humans and machines, fostering reproducibility and enabling new insights through controlled data sharing and reuse.

By making these tools freely available, we can accelerate the development of reliable genomic data management across the research community quickly, flexibly, and at multiple scales. Overture is an open-source project licensed under AGPLv3.0 with all source code publicly available from https://github.com/overture-stack and documentation on development, deployment, and usage available from www.overture.bio.