TREvolution Components
SACRO: Semi-automated Checking of Research Outputs and Support for AI
SACRO aims to reduce the bottleneck in the process of output disclosure checking, which currently involves human experts inspecting research outputs to ensure they protect private data and maintain its security.
It is currently costly and time-consuming for experts in Trusted Research Environments (TREs) to meticulously check research outputs, such as tables, plots, and Artificial Intelligence models, to ensure they do not contain personal information, which hinders the timely release of research findings.
SACRO provides user-friendly tools for output checkers that enhance oversight and auditing while supporting AI models from project inception to output. It offers privacy risk evaluation toolkits and workflows for researchers, enabling risk-minimised study designs. By separating risk measurement from decision-making, SACRO ensures human oversight, maintains public trust, and facilitates efficient data management, particularly when integrating data from multiple organisations.
Within TREvolution, SACRO will establish a framework for understanding risks and mitigations associated with various research outputs, enabling clear comparisons of tools. This will help organisations make informed decisions, facilitate discussions on risks, support federated analytics, and enable AI-supported research that unlocks the value of confidential data while protecting privacy.
SACRO will be explored by FRIDGE, PANORAMA, SOAR and VISTA, four of the six DARE UK Early Adopters. These projects will feed back on the effectiveness of SACRO in assessing research outputs to identify potential disclosure risks as research findings are released from TREs in real-world research settings.
Project information
- Lead organisation: University of the West of England
- Partners/collaborators: University of Dundee, University of Manchester, Durham University, NHS Scotland
- Duration: 24 months (March 2025 – March 2027)
- Product team contact email: james.smith@uwe.ac.uk
- Primary contact: Professor Jim Smith (james.smith@uwe.ac.uk)
Project team
- Professor Jim Smith – Product Lead
- Dr Elizabeth Green – Governance and Stakeholder Engagement
- Dr Amanda Ramsay – Governance and Stakeholder Engagement
- Professor Felix Ritchie – Governance and Stakeholder Engagement
- Dr Andy Gibson – Public Involvement and Engagement
- Dr Kay Ate – Research and Development
- Dr Alba Crespi-Boixander – Research and Development
- Hannah Gordon – Research and Development
- Lewis Hotchkiss – Research and Development
- Dr James Liley – Research and Development
- Dr Trupti Padiya – Research and Development
- Dr Richard Preen – Research and Development
- Dr Petar Radanliev – Research and Development
- Dr Simon Rogers – Research and Development
Relevant links
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