Trusted Research in a Complex World – LIDA Partners on New Japan Project
Global data science and AI research collaboration is accelerating, and international partnerships are generating insight at an unprecedented scale. As data needs grow and security expectations evolve, Trusted Research Environments (TRE’s) are playing an increasingly central role in enabling secure, cross-border collaboration.
At the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA), that capability continues to expand. The Data Analytics Team (DAT) has recently onboarded a new international project with partners in Japan, onto LASER, the University of Leeds’ in-house cloud-based TRE. The 3-year project, in conjunction with the Faculty of Environment and Societies, marks the sixth international research project on the platform, but the first collaboration with Japanese researchers, and further strengthens LIDA’s growing global reach.
Trusted Research Environments
As international data policy frameworks continue to evolve, including new health data governance structures in Europe and shifting global approaches to data sovereignty in the U.S., institutions must ensure that research collaboration is underpinned by secure, adaptable data science infrastructures. TRE’s offer a practical solution: rather than transferring sensitive data across jurisdictions, UK residency of the data is maintained, and researchers can securely access and analyse data within controlled environments from anywhere in the world, preserving data sovereignty and meeting regulatory requirements.
TRE’s and researchers also require end to end expert data science capabilities to manage the platform, data workflow and contribute to research outputs. The DAT, LIDA’s team of research data scientists, are seamlessly integrated with LASER to provide data science/AI, analysis, engineering, security, training and technical expertise, making it a trusted option for storing and processing sensitive and confidential research data. This integrated model ensures that research teams can focus on generating academic impact, whilst the data and infrastructure are managed to the highest security standards, to drive insights.
Rigorous compliance standards
As part of the formal data security due diligence process undertaken with the Japanese partners, three members of the DAT and two colleagues from University IT, responded to more than 120 detailed questions about the platform’s technical, operational and governance controls. The approval of the project demonstrates not only the robustness of the infrastructure, but also the depth of the DAT’s data science expertise needed to support it.
How LIDA is enabling international research collaborations
Since its inception in 2020, the DAT and LASER has supported more than 100 research projects spanning local, regional, national and international partnerships. With over 50% of those being national research initiatives, the team has a strong foundation to support high level international projects. Recent international collaborations have included:
- Marine environmental research in Japan
- Sustainable transport modelling across the UK and Europe
- Transport policy modelling using data from Vietnam
- Analysis of errors in intermediate and advanced learners of Mandarin Chinese
- Paediatric intensive care research including data from Ireland and Latvia
- Updating the Paediatric Index of Mortality using data from Australia and New Zealand
Building on these successes, the Japan Project adds to LIDA’s track record of enabling innovative data science and AI research collaborations across continents, whilst maintaining rigorous standards of data protection and compliance.
Adam Keeley, LIDA Data Analytics Team Manager and LASER Product Owner, said: “International research increasingly depends on data science and infrastructure that enables collaboration while maintaining the highest standards of data security and public trust. Our aim is to make complex data science involving sensitive data manageable, providing the hands-on data science and governance expertise that allow researchers to focus on impact.”
Roy Ruddle, Director of Research Technology at LIDA, added: “The onboarding of the Japan project signals not only LIDA’s expanding role in international research partnerships, but also the growing importance of TRE’s and data science in academic research.
Our vision is to generate societal impact and improve global wellbeing and prosperity through internationally outstanding research. By continuing to invest in the secure LASER infrastructure, our team of data scientists and robust data governance processes, we are enabling University of Leeds’ researchers to collaborate confidently with institutions around the world to deliver impact”.