Implementing best practice identity and access management solutions for responsible human omics research data sharing

As experts in trust and identity, the Australian Access Federation (AAF) have partnered with the Australia BioCommons’ GUARDIANS project to implement best practice identity and access management solutions to improve Australia’s capacity to share human omics research data securely and responsibly.

The GUARDIANS (human Genomics Uplift for Australia through Research Data Infrastructure At National Scale) project is accelerating human genomics and related omics research in Australia, through the development of world-class digital infrastructure. The GUARDIANS project will empower Australian researchers to easily and securely discover, access, analyse and use human genomics data across national infrastructure, using the latest tools and resources.

AAF’s Head of Trust and Identity Strategy and Futures John Scullen, Project Manager Poornima Mani, and Business Analyst Ryan Paytes, attended the GUARDIANS meeting hosted by BioCommons in Sydney earlier this year.

John Scullen said, “It was informative to hear from our project partners, and deepen our understanding of how the AAF can support the authentication and authorisation requirements for secure research data sharing.

“A collaborative exchange of ideas helped to identify challenges, potential solutions, and to explore the policies, processes, and technologies needed for the project to succeed.

“We look forward to collaborating with our GUARDIANS partners to bolster researchers’ capacity to easily and securely discover, access, analyse and use human genomics data across national infrastructure.

“This initiative is a flagship project for the AAF in delivering the Trust and Identity capability under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).”

The AAF regularly collaborates with GUARDIANS partners to identify their process and policy needs for shared identity and access management, streamlining and securing researcher access.

The GUARDIANS project builds on the lessons learnt in BioCommons’ Human Genomes Platform Project (HGPP). In which the AAF played a pivotal role by implementing best practice identity and access management solutions, to improve Australia’s capacity to access and share human omics research data. The HGPP investigated and prototyped a suite of services to support human omics research. The GUARDIANS project will build on those foundations to create production services to support this valuable research.

The GUARDIANS program is accelerating human omics research in Australia through the development of world-class digital infrastructure. The program is led by Australian BioCommons with contributions from partner organisations including the Australian Access Federation, Children’s Cancer Institute Australia, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, National Computational Infrastructure, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, The University of Melbourne, and The University of Sydney. GUARDIANS forms part of Australian BioCommons’ Human Genome Informatics Initiative and receives National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy support through Bioplatforms Australia.

The GUARDIANS partners include:

• Australian BioCommons 
• Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute 
• Children’s Cancer Institute 
• Garvan Institute of Medical Research
• National Computational Infrastructure 
• QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute 
• The University of Melbourne 
• The University of Melbourne Collaborative Centre for Genomic Cancer Medicine
• The University of Sydney

Find out more:

• GUARDIANS Kick-off meeting: https://www.biocommons.org.au/news/guardians-kick-off
• GUARDIANS Project: https://www.biocommons.org.au/guardians
• HGPP: https://aaf.edu.au/human-genomes-platform-project/
• AAF Projects & Case Studies: https://aaf.edu.au/projects/

AAF has partnered with Microscopy Australia exploring impact tracking through persistent identifiers (PIDs).

Microscopy Australia are a consortium of university-based microscopy facilities that more than 3,500 researchers across Australia use each year. They aim to empower Australian science and innovation by making advanced microscopes accessible to all researchers.

One of the greatest challenges in research is to connect and report on distributed services and this incubator explores how richer reporting, impact tracking and usage data can be provided through ORCID iDs and PIDs across national research infrastructure.