Add blog post on Health Data Research Service and federation

This post discusses the £600 million Health Data Research Service (HDRS) initiative, emphasizing the importance of a federated approach to health data access and the role of the TREvolution project in standardizing operations across Trusted Research Environments.

Author: stain

_posts/2025-10-21-hdrs-trevolution.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Federation First: Making the £600 Million Health Data Research Service Work"
+date: 2025-10-21
+categories: [Trusted Research Environments, Health Data, Federation]
+tags: [DARE UK, HDRS, TREvolution, federated analytics, interoperability]
+---
+
+In April 2025, the UK Government announced a landmark £600 million investment to establish a **Health Data Research Service (HDRS)** — a secure, single access point to NHS datasets in England. This initiative, backed by Wellcome and central to the Life Sciences Sector Plan, aims to address long-standing challenges in health data access for researchers.
+
+But as [DARE UK](https://dareuk.org.uk/) rightly points out, ambition alone won’t be truly transform healthcare, the HDRS must be built on a foundational principle: **federation**.
+
+## Federation: Connecting What Already Works
+
+Health data in the UK resides in numerous **Trusted Research Environments (TREs)** and **Secure Data Environments (SDEs)** — each with robust privacy protections. Rather than centralising sensitive data into a new mega-repository, HDRS should build **secure bridges** between these existing environments.
+
+This federated approach enables:
+
+- **Remote analysis**: Researchers send analysis code to run within local TREs/SDEs, returning only anonymised insights.
+- **Guarded data convoys**: De-identified data moves securely between environments under strict governance.
+- **Hybrid models**: Combining both methods for complex studies.
+
+These mechanisms preserve data custodianship and public trust while unlocking the power of distributed datasets.
+
+## TREvolution: From Blueprint to Reality
+DARE UK’s **TREvolution project**, funded by UKRI, is standardising operations across TREs/SDEs. It’s developing tools for federated analysis, semi-automated output checking, and shared standards for data formatting, access, and auditing.
+
+Early adopter projects are already piloting these capabilities in over 10 live environments — including NHS sub-national SDEs, the national TRE in Wales, and the UK Data Service.
+
+## What’s Next for HDRS?
+
+To succeed, HDRS must:
+
+- Embed **federation** from day one
+- Mandate **interoperability** via open standards
+- Scale up existing infrastructure
+- Prioritise **public and patient involvement** with transparency and accountability
+
+This vision extends beyond health. As the UK explores a **National Data Library (NDL)**, federation offers a model for cross-domain research infrastructure — spanning education, environment, social welfare, and more.
+
+## A Global Opportunity
+Federation also positions the UK for international collaboration. The **European Network of Trusted Research Environments (EOSC-ENTRUST)** has already published a blueprint informed by DARE UK’s Federated Architecture.
+
+As we build HDRS, the question isn’t just *how* — but *who* will help assemble it. The challenge is complex, but the opportunity to deliver public benefit is transformational.
+
+## eScience Lab in TREvolution
+
+eScience Lab is a [partner in TREvolution](https://esciencelab.org.uk/projects/trevolution/) with a particular focus on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and transparent analysis of sensitive data and use of RO-Crate. We are joining this with our effort on the [federated analytics programme in Health Data Research UK](https://esciencelab.org.uk/projects/federated-analytics/), and the European architecture for trusted research environments in [EOSC-ENTRUST](https://esciencelab.org.uk/projects/eosc-entrust/).
+
+---
+
+_This blog post is syndicated from DARE UK <https://dareuk.org.uk/news-and-events/the-600-million-question-how-to-make-the-health-data-research-service-work/> _