The SAFER team discuss the progress made at the mid-point of the project towards meeting ot’s overall objectives: Reviewing SAIL Databank’s governance and federated models, the legal and security assessments, and engaging with key stakeholders and public panels.
Federation
As data research continues to evolve, there is growing interest in how Trusted Research Environments (TREs) and Secure Data Environments (SDEs) could work more closely together across the UK through an approach known as “federation.” Federation aims to enable approved projects and users to work with data held across different secure systems more efficiently through various federation models and approaches. Federation is currently developing in terms of the available approaches and operationalised processes and policies, with SAIL working towards this through the SAFER project, which represents an important step in exploring how this could be achieved safely, securely, and with continued strong governance in place.
The SAFER Project
The SAFER project, funded by DARE UK, was created to enable large-scale, interdisciplinary research across Trusted Research Environments (TREs). TREs, also known as Secure Data Environments (SDEs), provide safe access to sensitive data for research in the public interest. However, because each TRE operates under different legal, ethical, and governance frameworks, it can be challenging to combine and analyse data across regions or organisations. This limits the potential for large-scale research that could provide insights into national challenges.
SAFER’s objectives
By the end of the project, the SAFER team aims to evaluate how federated research could be done safely, legally, and consistently across TREs. Their goals include:
1. Appropriate federated governance models – making it clear how federated research can operate safely and within the law.
2. Providing practical guidance for TREs, researchers, and stakeholders – explaining what federation means in day-to-day research.
3. Opening up the conversation with the public – creating clear, accessible resources, including written and video content, to explain federation and its impact.
4. Paving the way for wider adoption – producing a final report with recommendations, key challenges, and opportunities to help TREs put federated research into practice.
The SAFER Conference
Our SAFER conference brought together researchers, members of the public, policymakers, and data governance experts for an in-person event: Exploring Federation and Innovation – a stakeholder engagement event led by the SAIL Databank in collaboration with DARE UK, SeRP, HDR UK, and ADR UK. The event brought together professionals from across the UK’s data research landscape to discuss one of data federation’s most pressing challenges: how to enable safe, legal, and efficient federated analysis within and between Trusted Research Environments (TREs) and Secure Data Environments (SDEs). The event presented information across a range of federation topics, with the SAFER project team seeking input from attendees and asking questions throughout the day in 6 workshops.
SAFER Blogs
Ashley Akbari, Professor of Population Data Science Research at Swansea University, theme lead with ADR Wales and the Head of SAIL User and Data Support Services (UDSS) & Research Innovation at SAIL Databank, discusses the findings and considerations for future work gathered from a workshop conducted by the SAFER project.
Video Animations
Our work on the SAFER project has led to the production of three animated videos tailored for different audiences. These videos help explain SAIL’s approach to federation to researchers, data owners and members of the public.
Wider Coverage of SAFER
How SAFER supports TREvolution
SAFER builds directly on previous DARE UK Driver Projects, TRE-FX and TELEPORT, which tested the technical aspects of federation and are now being developed further as part of TREvolution. By focusing on appropriate governance, practical guidance, and engagement with stakeholders, SAFER complements these efforts and addresses one of the biggest barriers to federated analysis: ensuring it is legal, ethical, and trusted for research in the public interest.
About the DARE UK Early Adopters
The DARE UK Early Adopters are pioneering projects helping to put the standards and innovations assembled through TREvolution into practice. Working across more than 10 TREs, including five sub-national NHS SDEs in England, these projects bring together researchers, TRE operators and members of the public. Their role is to test new approaches in real-world settings, ensuring they are practical, effective, and safe before being more widely adopted for research in the public interest.
