Enable federation

Answering society’s most pressing questions often requires data from multiple sources. Currently, for researchers, this has meant approaching multiple Trusted Research Environments (TREs) for access to datasets they need for their research projects, writing code and analyses for each one – a process that can be slow and expensive. 

Federation recognises that decisions, infrastructure, data and environments are not under a single entity that can make a decision, but are spread over many organisations. Therefore, to improve the current landscape, we need mechanisms for TREs to operate as a collective in order to make it less challenging for the researcher. 

Our programme is focused on the adoption of standards to build trust and therefore, enable federation. This part of the programme is focused on the technical mechanisms that can temporarily allow for linkages between TREs within a secure network so that researchers do not need to worry about how to navigate each TRE. 

TREvolution is building the frameworks and safeguards that make federation a reality. That includes developing secure technical connections, embedding shared standards and governance frameworks and giving TREs confidence that they can link with others without compromising security. By doing so, we reduce risk, strengthen collaboration and open the door to more ambitious research in the public interest.

Federation is a shift towards partnership, enabling researchers to address questions that no single dataset could answer alone. It allows for more representative findings, more efficient processes and a stronger base of evidence to guide policies and decisions.

As TREvolution grows, federation will become a defining feature of how sensitive data research is done in the UK: connected, safe and focused on the public good.