Abstract
A growing community is constructing a next-generation file format (NGFF) for bioimaging to overcome problems of scalability and heterogeneity. Organized by the Open Microscopy Environment (OME), individuals and institutes across diverse modalities facing these problems have designed a format specification process (OME-NGFF) to address these needs. This paper brings together a wide range of those community members to describe the cloud-optimized format itself – OME-Zarr – along with tools and data resources available today to increase FAIR access and remove barriers in the scientific process. The current momentum offers an opportunity to unify a key component of the bioimaging domain — the file format that underlies so many personal, institutional, and global data management and analysis tasks.
Competing Interest Statement
S.B., E.D., M.L., D.R.S. and J.R.S. are affiliated with Glencoe Software, a commercial company that builds, delivers, supports and integrates image data management systems across academic, biotech and pharmaceutical industries; J.M. and W.M. also hold equity in Glencoe Software. M.M. is affiliated with Kitware, Inc., a commercial company built around open-source platforms that provides advanced technical computing, state-of-the-art AI, and tailored software solutions to academic, government, and industrial customers. A.V., J.S. and N.R. are affiliated with Scalable Minds, a commercial company that builds, delivers, supports and integrates image analysis solutions. F.J.T. consults for Immunai Inc., Singularity Bio B.V., CytoReason Ltd, Cellarity, and Omniscope Ltd, and has ownership interest in Dermagnostix GmbH and Cellarity. N.A.H. and N.J.S. are contractors who work for Axle Research and Technology. S.B.S. and H.S. are affiliated with Axle Research and Technology and are contracted to the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, NIH. The remaining authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported.
Footnotes
Significant review; additional authors and sections. 4 new tables added to simplify navigation through the text.
