How it works

The Federated and Distributed data Sharing Appliance (FDSA), a dockerized container is deployed within the data contributor's environment. FDSA operates as a plug-in attached directly to data contributors’ data stores, allowing them to make their datasets discoverable and analyzable through the AD Workbench. The data remains securely stored within the contributor's environment while permissioned researchers access it remotely. 

Importantly, the data remains within the data contributor's environment and does not leave their control, ensuring data privacy and security while enabling seamless data sharing.

Data contributors publish their metadata in the AD Workbench Catalog. When researchers request access to a data set, data contributors can approve or reject the request utilizing existing data governance procedures. 

After gaining access, researchers, log in to the AD Workbench workspace and use the Query Builder app to run their analyses. The model and query are sent to the partner’s data systems, where the data is processed securely. The results are first quarantined, giving data contributors the option to review them before the data results are transferred to a protected workspace on AD Workbench for researchers to continue their analysis.