General Information About Research On TRUST

TRUST, through its Data Access Committee (DAC), assesses the overall value of a research project to Singapore, which can include scientific, health and other social aspects as well as the public interest and social value. Other considerations include the potential for new discoveries and breakthroughs, and the feasibility of conducting the research in Singapore.

TRUST supports longitudinal studies as well as studies on health economics, determinants of health, and AI modelling. They could range from population health to areas such as metabolic, endocrine and cardiovascular diseases.

The data on TRUST does not include any identification records. Personal identifiers such as NRICs and medical record numbers are pseudonymised, meaning they are converted into a form that cannot be used to identify the individual(s).

Other identifiers such as name and contact information (phone / email / address) are not included in TRUST data.

The ability to bring together real-world data, e.g. clinical data and research data together in a safe manner provides an opportunity to derive insights that can improve health and healthcare. For example, bringing various types of data would assist researchers in looking for previously hidden insights and patterns. Such information would be invaluable in helping to understand diseases, develop treatments, plan health programmes and evaluate public health policy.

Research on TRUST can potentially lead to innovations and breakthroughs in healthcare in the form of improved clinical treatments, medical interventions, and health / healthcare management.

This means improving the understanding of what causes diseases and health conditions to develop, as well as evaluating the effectiveness and safety of new treatments.

Every individual’s unique health (e.g. clinical measurements) and non-health (e.g. socio-economic factors, lifestyles) determinants profile could be the key to uncovering discoveries about the human body and health and impact on health outcomes. If researchers have access to larger, more diverse datasets, the more likely it is that they will increase understanding of the causes of diseases and conditions, as well as ways and strategies to treat or prevent them and improve population health.

Use of the data is based on an assessment of the overall value of a research project to Singapore, which can include scientific, health as well as the public interest and social value aspects.

Data on TRUST can only be accessed by researchers that have been approved by the TRUST Data Access Committee (DAC) after a thorough vetting process.

TRUST has a Data Access Committee (DAC) that will assess overall value of a research project to Singapore, which can include scientific, health as well as the public interest and social value aspects.

The DAC role is important in our effort to ensure expeditious access to data through TRUST to support research and innovation while upholding data governance according to the agreed terms between TRUST and the research data contributors. Such terms include respecting existing encumbrances and upholding and data permissibility.

Most importantly, DAC serves to ensure that the right balance is maintained between advancing public interest through health innovations that contribute to better health outcomes while minimising data misuse and protecting individuals’ confidentiality.

TRUST adopts the Five Safes Framework (Safe Purpose, Safe People, Safe Settings, Safe Data, Safe Output), an internationally recognised governance framework to maximise data utility and protect misuse of the data.

Safe Purpose
Before any research is allowed on TRUST, the TRUST Data Access Committee (DAC) will review the value of the research request (e.g. scientific, health and public interest) to determine if the research is intended to serve a legitimate objective of public interest and generating social benefit.

Safe People
Individuals with access to TRUST must have appropriate researcher credentials, sign a Personal Undertaking (PU) and be endorsed by an organisation that has signed the Data Request Agreement (DRA) with TRUST. They must only work on approved research projects and are subject to other rules such as time-limited access. The DRA and PU set out obligations on the part of the organisation and individual respectively when using TRUST. This ensures that there are no unauthorised data disclosures to unknown or unauthorised individuals.

Researchers must comply with restrictions on information that can be shared, for example researchers cannot share information outside their approved project team (even if they belong to the same organisation). Similarly approved researchers who may be working on separate research projects cannot share information on their own research project with other researchers.

Safe Settings
Data on TRUST is stored in a secured environment with government-standard security measures (e.g. Government Commercial Cloud, GCC). There are physical and technical protocols to prevent unauthorised data disclosure or export. In addition, activities on the TRUST platform are monitored to ensure proper usage.

Safe Data
Data on TRUST are accessed and used based on approval by the TRUST DAC and are anonymised to reduce re-identification risks. This means that the data on TRUST does not include any personal identifiers. There are also legal safeguards against the re-identification of individuals.

Safe Output
Analytical output is also vetted to ensure 1) it is consistent with the purpose that access was granted for and 2) the output does not contain any identifying information.

Data on TRUST is stored in a secured cloud environment with government-standard security measures, with physical and technical protocols to prevent unauthorised data disclosure or export.

Approved researchers can only perform analysis through a virtual desktop interface (VDI). The VDI has built-in safeguards against data leaks (whether intentional or unintentional), including internet separation and the disabling of copy / paste functions. Activity on the TRUST platform is logged and monitored for any irregular activities, e.g. suspicious login attempts.

All files onboarded to the TRUST platform are subject to anti-malware scans and vulnerability assessments are frequently conducted.

There are physical and technical protocols to prevent unauthorised data disclosure or export, including the use of a virtual desktop interface (VDI).

The VDI has built-in safeguards against data leaks (whether intentional or unintentional), including internet separation and the disabling of copy / paste functions. All data accessed through TRUST is anonymised to WOG (Whole-of-Government) anonymisation standards. Personal data is converted into a form that cannot be used to identify the individual(s).

Both users and their organisations are subject to legislation based on Singapore law, including the Human Biomedical Research Act, the Computer Misuse Act, the Personal Data Protection Act and the Official Secrets Act.

Currently, TRUST is mainly supporting public sector users and researchers from Singapore public health institutions, institutes of higher learning and publicly funded institutions.

TRUST is also starting to enable collaboration with strategic selected industry and overseas entities.

Projects are charged for their usage, i.e. consumables such as cloud computing and storage costs; as well as foundational service fees.