Module 6: Federation & Collaboration

Core Services define the Federation and provide common functions for coordinated and secure operation.

Security Server (SS)

Every Federation Participant runs a standard Security Server, which acts as the secure gateway for all inter-TRE traffic.

  • Deploy a standard Security Server for each Federation Participant.
  • Configure Security Servers according to the approved global settings.
  • Security Servers continue operating independently if control-plane connectivity to Federation Management Services is interrupted.

Federation Registry Services

Registry services record information about the Federation's elements. Register all Projects with the Federation Registry.

The Registry records information in three categories:

  1. Infrastructure Metadata: Describe Participants and log operational data.
  2. Content Metadata (Dataset Metadata): Record catalogue-level information about datasets, such as Data Controller, name, and time coverage.
  3. Governance Metadata: Track users and activities, including Project metadata (title, host TRE, duration, authorised members) and User metadata (affiliation, accreditation status, training records).

Trust Services and AAAI

Trust services secure the data exchange layer and support confidentiality, integrity, non-repudiation, and availability.

  • The Project defines the authorisation context, links Project Members to the data they can use, and specifies the host TRE.
  • Assign globally recognizable and unique Federation Identities to Projects, Project Members, and Datasets.
  • Train or accredit all users of sensitive data to an acceptable level ("Safe People").

For definitions of federation-related terms, see the Glossary. For architectural details, see Reference Architecture.