A data commons is a cloud-based data platform with a governance structure
that allows a community to manage, analyze and share its data. Data commons
provide a research community with the ability to manage and analyze large
datasets using the elastic scalability provided by cloud computing and to
share data securely and compliantly, and, in this way, accelerate the pace
of research. Over the past decade, a number of data commons have been
developed and we discuss some of the lessons learned from this effort.