TRE Open Suite

The TRE Open Suite project is a multi-year initiative under the GA4GH Implementation Forum (GIF) focused on developing an open, extensible technical framework and Software Development Kit (SDK) for building and deploying the technical foundations for Trusted Research Environments (TREs). The framework integrates state-of-the-art security technologies with GA4GH standards to support modular, policy-compliant TRE configurations across federated, multi-cloud research ecosystems.

A key innovation of the TRE Open Suite is its foundation in formal security analysis, enabling a universal matrix of security aspects that systematically addresses privacy, data ownership, software licensing, and Artificial Intelligence governance in federated environments. This structured approach ensures that security and compliance are not add-ons, but core design principles.

The framework also introduces the concept of programmatic trust management — providing tools and interfaces that allow automated evaluation, verification, and enforcement of trust conditions across components and institutions. This supports scalable, interoperable deployments aligned with frameworks like the Five Safes and European Open Science Cloud – European Network of TRUSTed Research Environments (EOSC-ENTRUST), while encouraging collaborative innovation through an open SDK ecosystem.

GIF Champions: Pavel Nikonorov, leading the reference implementation; Muhammad Usama Sardar, conducting formal security analysis; and Alex Kanitz, coordinating extensions and changes to existing GA4GH products.

The TRE Open Suite is currently focused on drafting the security framework and integrating key GA4GH standards and trust-enhancing technologies. This includes:

• GA4GH RFC (Request For Comments) on trust in federated environments;
• designing modular interfaces for pluggable security components;
• evaluating integration paths for Homomorphic Encryption, Differential Privacy, and Attested Transport Layer Security (TLS);
• exploring the GA4GH Tool Registry Service (TRS) as a trust anchor.

Key milestones will include presentations at standardisation forums such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and collaborations across international institutions.

We invite researchers, developers, institutions, industry partners, policy experts, and funders to collaborate on the TRE Open Suite. Whether you are interested in implementing a component, contributing to specifications, aligning your TRE infrastructure with GA4GH standards, or exploring opportunities for collaboration, you are welcome to participate.

Learn more and join the effort: https://tinyurl.com/open-tre-suite

1. GA4GH Connect 2025: TRE Open Suite slides
2. TRE Open Suite GIF project description and roadmap
3. GA4GH Slack Channel: #gif-open-tre