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What is a Secure Data Environment? 

A Secure Data Environment (SDE) is a secure online environment where approved researchers, clinicians and analysts can access and analyse health and care data for research, evaluation and service improvement. 

Rather than providing copies of data for researchers to download and use elsewhere, data remains within the secure environment. Researchers access the data through controlled systems, with permissions and safeguards in place to protect confidentiality and data integrity.  

SDEs provide a way to make valuable health and care data available for research while maintaining strong controls over how that data is accessed and used. 

Why are Secure Data Environments important? 

Health and care organisations collect large amounts of information through routine care. Used responsibly, this data can help researchers understand diseases, evaluate treatments, improve services and identify opportunities to deliver better care. 

However, health data is sensitive. It needs to be protected while also being available for legitimate research and improvement. 

SDEs provide the infrastructure to achieve this balance. 

The benefits of an SDE 

• Stronger security: Data remains within a controlled environment rather than being distributed as multiple copies. Access can be restricted to approved users, projects and activities. 
•  Better protection of confidentiality: Researchers can work with de-identified data without routinely receiving or storing copies of the underlying data on their own systems. 
• Clear governance and accountability: Access can be managed through defined approval processes, user permissions and oversight. This provides a clear framework for how data can be accessed and used. 
• Connecting data safely: SDEs can provide a secure environment for bringing together data from different organisations, services and care settings. This can create a more complete picture of health and care while maintaining appropriate controls over each data resource. 
• Data at scale: Large, established datasets can support research across substantial populations and over long periods of time, enabling questions that cannot be answered using small or isolated datasets. 
• Better data quality: Data can be centrally curated, linked and quality-checked, helping researchers work with consistent and well-understood datasets rather than multiple uncontrolled copies. 
• More efficient research: A shared research environment and established data infrastructure can reduce the time and resources needed to find, prepare and securely analyse data for each project. 
• Enabling collaboration: SDEs allow researchers, clinicians, analysts and data specialists to work with data within a common secure environment, supporting collaboration across organisations and disciplines. 
• Reusable infrastructure: Once secure infrastructure, governance processes and data pipelines are established, they can support multiple research and analytical projects rather than requiring a new data environment for every study. 

The ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Secure Data Environment 

iCARE operates the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Secure Data Environment, providing approved researchers, clinicians and analysts with secure access to de-identified health and care data for research, evaluation and service improvement. 

The ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ SDE is an actively maintained research environment rather than a static dataset. The iCARE team continually curates, links and quality-checks data, develops research-ready datasets and improves the platform to support changing research and analytical needs. 

The SDE provides the secure foundation for a range of health and care data resources and enables approved linkage between them. 

What data are available? 

The ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ SDE contains routinely collected healthcare data from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, alongside other data resources available through established collaborations. 

A key capability is the ability to securely link data from different parts of the health and care system. Through collaboration with Whole Systems Integrated Care (WSIC), approved researchers can work with linkable data covering approximately 2.8 million people across North West London. 

Find out more about the data resources, tenancies and WSIC linkage → 

A secure environment for responsible research 

The purpose of an SDE is not simply to make data available. It is to create the secure infrastructure, governance and controls needed to enable its responsible use. 

By keeping data within a controlled environment, maintaining high standards of data management and enabling access for approved purposes, SDEs help turn routinely collected health and care data into valuable evidence while protecting the people whose data makes that research possible. 

Find out more about data governance → 
Find out how to access the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ SDE →