Creating secure Trusted Research Environments within AI supercomputers

FRIDGE (Federated Research Infrastructure by Data Governance Extension) is helping the UK’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) support sensitive data research by creating secure Trusted Research Environments (TREs) within large-scale AI supercomputers. This will make it easier for approved researchers to use powerful computing resources while ensuring strict governance and security are in place.

Artificial intelligence (AI) models can help to accelerate data research to solve complex challenges in health and society — but developing them often requires access to sensitive data on powerful supercomputers. Accessing and analysing sensitive data at this scale is difficult, as strict governance is needed to protect people’s privacy.

Led by The Alan Turing Institute, in partnership with University College London and the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol, FRIDGE is one of the DARE UK Early Adopter projects exploring how parts of the UK’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) can be securely configured as TREs. This would allow approved researchers to use large-scale AI systems for sensitive data research while keeping security and governance at the core.

AIRR is a national service made up of powerful computers designed for AI research, giving researchers, universities, and businesses access to world-class computing resources for developing and testing AI.

Event Objectives

To understand how the public feel about Fridge’s work extending TRE capabilities to these larger scale AI systems, and about the larger scale AI research using sensitive data that this will enable. Some questions that will be explored are:

• How do people feel about a TRE using a computer run by another organisation as part of their TRE? Are people comfortable with the combination of information governance and technical controls we are putting in place?

• How do people feel about the research enabled by the ability to work safely with sensitive data on large AI supercomputers – using larger scale data and large scale AI models?

Who Should Attend:

• Members of the public

• Stakeholders from the TRE community

Further Details?

This meeting will be on Zoom. Please download or update this app before the meeting commences.

Background Information:

• Public progress update blog: https://dareuk.org.uk/news-and-events/fridge-unlocking-ai-supercomputing-for-secure-sensitive-data-research/

• FRIDGE presentation at DARE UK public webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfsrasR0snQ&t=1453s