TRE-FX platform for federated analytics of sensitive data in Trusted Research Environments

A Trusted Research Environment (TRE) is a highly secure computer system that allows sensitive data from different sources to be combined, de-personalised and then made available for approved researchers to analyse within a secure virtual environment. The TRE-FX platform enables secure cross-TRE federated analytics. Federated analytics is where the data does not move, but instead, the computer code the researchers write is sent to the data.There are many different software tools available for federated analytics, but most have not been designed for use within the considerable technical constraints of TREs. TRE-FX separates the different logical stages of a federated project, to support the use of analytics software within these environments. TRE-FX also uses international open standards from the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) and ELIXIR to provide a solution for the remote execution of reproducible federated analyses.The Task Execution Service from GA4GH is used to receive federated analysis requests into the TRE. RO-Crate from ELIXIR is used in a standards framework to create the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) metadata needed for reproducing analyses across TRE networks. The Five Safes RO-Crate encapsulates the metadata required for the exchange and review of analysis requests and results. This supports the disclosure control processes of TREs, where all outputs/results must be checked to ensure no disclosive data leaves a TRE.TRE-FX tools are being adapted and used across diverse UK and international projects, including DARE UK TREvolution, EOSC-ENTRUST, HDR UK Federated Analytics and ELIXIR Fed-A-Crate.