K8TRE

Establishing a TRE is challenging and can take months to years to develop and deploy. Currently, TREs are only designed to run on a single platform, such as a public cloud vendor (e.g. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud) or an on-site solution (e.g. VMware).

K8TRE uses Kubernetes, an open-source platform, allowing TREs to function across public clouds, private clouds, or personal servers with slight modifications. It includes specifications that help all Kubernetes-based TREs share components, reducing duplication of efforts and enabling users to customise their TREs.

K8TRE also provides a reference TRE setup for those wanting to establish new TREs easily. It is crucial to the TREvolution project as it establishes the technical foundation for a federated TRE that can be used to test other TREvolution products in a real-world setting.

Through K8TRE, TREvolution will define a TRE platform that operates on multiple solutions, allowing future TRE developments to focus on a common framework. It offers a straightforward way for TRE organisations to set up a federated TRE without needing major changes to their current deployments, helping to lower governance costs. Real-world testing and evaluation of federation technologies across multiple institutions will also be effectively streamlined.

K8TRE will be explored by DARE UK Early Adopters, FOCUS-5 and FRIDGE, who will test its features and functionalities in real-world TREs and provide feedback and recommendations for refinement.

Expected outputs and timelines

• Minimum Viable Product (June 2025): An initial operational version of K8TRE-supported TRE that runs on multiple Kubernetes platforms and is capable of deploying the TREvolution products when they’re ready.
• Version 1 (March 2026): A ready-to-test, TRE that complies with the SATRE specification, with the option of deploying all TREvolution products and instructions for federating multiple TREs.
• Version 2 (February 2027): Incorporate all feedback from early adoption and testing.

Project information

• Lead organisation: Health Informatics Centre, University of Dundee
• Partners/collaborators: Advanced Research Computing Centre (University College London), Health Informatics Centre (University of Dundee), Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, and Lancaster University.
• Duration: 23 months (March 2025 – February 2027)
• Product team contact email: hello@k8tre.org
• Primary contact: Simon Li (spli@dundee.ac.uk)

Project team

• Finley Bacon (University College London) – Developer
• Gordon Milligan (University of Dundee) – Project Manager and Scrum Master
• George Svarovsky (University College London) – Developer
• Michael Harding (Lancaster University) – Technical Lead, Developer
• Simon Li (University of Dundee), Product Owner – Developer
• Vishnu Chandrabalan (Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust) – Developer
• Christian Cole (University of Dundee) – TRE Advisor

Relevant links

• GitHub repository