Tryggve2 – Nordic Sensitive Data project

Funding source: NeIC

Project duration: 21.10.2017 – 31.10.2020

Project website: neic.no/tryggve/

 

What we are doing:

Public registers, biobanks, health registers and research projects are examples of actors that collect and store vast amounts of data that has huge potential for advancing scientific research. However, much of the data is sensitive as it includes information on individuals and, naturally, the data needs to be stored and processed so that integrity and privacy of individuals is secured. Enabling the research utilising sensitive data while fulfilling legal requirements for privacy poses a challenge for research supporting e-Infrastructure.

Tryggve is a three-year project to establish a Nordic platform for collaboration on sensitive data, funded by NeIC and the ELIXIR nodes in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Tryggve is about developing state-of-the-art scalable infrastructure for safe, efficient, ethical, and legal storage, analysis and sharing of sensitive personal data for biomedical research between countries. The project supports open and transparent data access processes by engaging with the key stakeholders from each of the Nordic countries. It will contribute to facilitating automated cross-border sample and data movements complying with the Nordic legal framework, with an ambition to scale to Europe and beyond.

The outcomes of Tryggve project will enable researchers to conduct their research utilising sensitive data in secure settings and facilitate Nordic collaboration in biomedical research.

CSC managing the project

CSC as the Finnish ELIXIR infrastructure and Tryggve2 partner develops secure data services, such as data storage and repositories, authentication and authorization of users and secure cloud infrastructure.

Development of these services is in the focus for the Finnish Tryggve2 team and it is done in close collaboration with national partners and ELIXIR projects. In addition, the participation in Tryggve2 facilitates Nordic research collaboration and access to the other Nordic services through use cases, thus benefiting directly the Finnish biomedical research community.

The project manager is located at CSC.

Use Cases drive the development

Tryggve supports researchers in taking the secure data services into use, and thereby to achieve results faster and safer. In practice, Tryggve implements specific Use Cases as part of the project. The Use Cases drive the development in Tryggve towards actual and concrete demands of the users. Use Cases aim to solve real-life issues in data management and/or to provide state-of-the-art research environment for sensitive research data.

The easiest way to start using secure services from Tryggve is to apply for a Tryggve use case. To submit the proposal, the project should have a research plan (involving sensitive data) and already established collaboration in the Nordics.

Use Cases for Tryggve can be proposed online at any time. There are two alternatives for doing this: either provide information on your research case in an online form, or download and complete a .docx template and submit it by email to the project (tryggve(at)neic.no).

The project manager Antti Pursula (antti.pursula(at)csc.fi) works at CSC.