Why trusted research environments should be at the centre of digital strategies to fuel innovation, sustainability and growth

Trusted and secure research is a vital strategic asset for higher education and research institutions across the UK, driving innovation, sustainability and growth. Digital trusted research environments support this work by allowing approved researchers secure access to personal, commercial or otherwise sensitive data, while ensuring this data is used ethically and compliantly.

Why trusted research environments matter now more than ever

In a time of financial pressure, the demand for impactful research that benefits society and the economy is growing. Sensitive data and emerging technologies like AI must be managed with integrity and security - making trusted research environments more critical than ever.

Jisc recently hosted members of our research and innovation strategy forum group, made up of pro vice-chancellors for research and innovation from universities across the UK, alongside some key partners from the trusted research environment space. The session explored how universities can strengthen their strategic oversight, governance and sustainability of trusted research environments.

Chaired by Professor Maria Delgado, vice principal, research and knowledge exchange, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and Monica Jones, chief data officer, University of Leeds and associate director, HDR UK North, the discussion reinforced that trusted research environments should not be seen as isolated technical systems. Instead, they should be strategic components of institutional digital ecosystems: integrated, governed and led from the top.

The workshop focused on developing strategic solutions to embed secure, high-capacity and sustainable trusted research environments ecosystems in higher education institutions with a focus on digital, data and technology – helping set sector-standard good practice.

Setting the scene: UKRI’s vision for trusted research

Helen Hunt, UKRI trusted research and innovation programme director, shared the broader UKRI perspective on trusted research and innovation, setting the scene for the focus on trusted research environments. She emphasised that maintaining trust and security in research – whether in international collaborations or UK-based projects – is fundamental to sustaining the UK’s research ecosystem.

Dr David Crooks, head of cyber security, scientific computing at STFC UKRI, emphasised the critical importance of cyber security in research infrastructure. He highlighted the UKRI digital research infrastructure programme, which supports people and organisations to develop the tools, services and skills needed to strengthen the UK’s digital research infrastructure.

The challenges of managing trusted research environments

Delegates representing institutions felt that although UK trusted and secure research is an international exemplar, the current trusted research environment landscape is complex.

Managing them is resource-intensive, especially where higher education institutions and research organisations are developing or sustaining multiple trusted research environments separately to meet the requirements of a range of research disciplines.

Attendees also highlighted concerns about financial pressure and complexity across the trusted research environment landscape; practical considerations around ensuring that governance, data management and research security best practices are considered as an organisational priority; and a need for coordinated accessible guidance for institutions.

Bella Abrams, group chief technology officer, Jisc, highlighted that the sector's greatest need is shared practice, clear institutional governance and accountability, skilled people, and coordination to reduce duplication and improve access.

The need for a more standardised approach to trusted research environments

Overall, the ‘trust’ in trusted research environments is the essential component – and a more standardised approach to trusted research environments where feasible, was seen by participants as an opportunity to increase the level of that trust.

There was a strong feeling that the focus should extend beyond cyber security, so that trusted and secure research is included in institutional digital strategies and benefitting from the oversight of institutional executive leadership teams – supported by a coordinated toolset of guidance and resources.

Monica Jones, chief data officer for the University of Leeds and associate director for HDR UK North, stressed the need for ‘secure by design’ approaches that balance accessibility, security and trust, senior-level alignment across research, digital and data domains, and to recognise trust and compliance not only as obligations but as reputational assets.

Fergus McDonald, deputy director of DARE UK (Data and Analytics Research Environments UK), explained that DARE UK aims to put the UK at the forefront of sensitive data research and innovation by assembling the tools, technologies and standards needed to streamline secure data linkage and use.

Collaboration and co-ordination within institutions and across the trusted research environment landscape

Leaders at the event expressed strong interest in the cost-efficiency and economy of scale offered by federated approaches to the UK trusted research environment landscape in universities. This naturally came alongside questions around how institutions could come together to explore those opportunities.

Executive leadership teams in universities have an opportunity to coordinate within and across their institutions, and across the trusted research environment landscape, with a focus on federated digital research infrastructure growing in response to the significant financial challenges facing the sector.

Full interoperability of trusted research environments was seen as impractical, with federated networks of trusted research environments and researcher access to trusted research environments as a community of research teams thought to be much more achievable.

The timing for this is good, as Government investment in collaborative research infrastructure grows, with the UK Compute Roadmap and the National Data Library being two good examples.

Jisc is playing a role on several fronts to capitalise on this investment and to facilitate and encourage collaboration:

Analysing the technical infrastructure of institutional trusted research environments to understand common approaches and technologies and support shared licensing models
Exploring centralised negotiations and procurement to reduce complexity, drive efficiency, and ensure alignment with national priorities
Supporting UKRI in developing options for next phase infrastructure for effective sector-wide authentication, authorisation and accounting infrastructure services to enable secure, seamless access for research teams
Engaging at EU level, working with ESOC (the European Security Operations Centre) and peer NRENs through GEANT to support federated approaches

We look forward to expanding our role in the strategic coordination of the trusted research environment landscape as a critical part of university and sector capability and impact, with a range of expert partners in this critical space.