GA4GH Passports webinar series

28 May 2020

The GA4GH Data Use and Researcher Identities (DURI) Work Stream will host two webinars in June to demonstrate how data access systems can leverage the GA4GH Passports standard to bring efficiency and harmonization to the data access process.

The research and clinical communities are generating large volumes of genomic data and associated computational resources that have the potential to shape the future of human health and medicine—but only when coupled with efficient data access mechanisms. The GA4GH Data Use and Researcher Identities (DURI) Work Stream will host two webinars in June to demonstrate how data access systems can leverage the GA4GH Passports standard to bring efficiency and harmonization to the data access process.

Approved by the GA4GH Steering Committee in October, 2019, the GA4GH Passport specification defines a standard way of communicating a researcher’s data access authorization based on their role, affiliation, or access status. The specification aims to streamline the data access process and support researchers’ ability to access and aggregate data efficiently. GA4GH Passports work in tandem with the Authentication & Authorization Infrastructure (AAI) specification, which provides the mechanism for passing GA4GH Passport information between institutions in a secure manner. 

The first webinar, “GA4GH Passports: Benefits of Integrating a Global Electronic ID for Accessing Biomedical Data,” will be held on Wednesday, June 17 at 4pm UTC. The session will provide an introduction to GA4GH Passports and explore how the standard can address different challenges, such as enabling data discovery via registered access controls, streamlining DAC processes, leveraging cloud access for compute, and facilitating the aggregation of datasets from multiple data custodians or sources. 

Additionally, the team will show how GA4GH Passports can work together with other GA4GH standards, such as the Beacon and htsget APIs. This webinar provides an ideal entry point for DACs, DAC chairs, science policy heads, heads of authentication and authorization, institute’s signing officials, and other groups interested in learning how GA4GH Passports can benefit their data access systems. Plenty of time will be reserved for discussion, during which attendees can share current challenges and provide feedback on how the GA4GH Passports standard can be improved to best serve the scientific community. 

For those interested in implementing the GA4GH Passports standard, the second webinar, “Implementing GA4GH Passports and AAI: Technical Deep Dive,” will target a more technical audience on the following Wednesday, June 24. This webinar will dive into the technical aspects of implementing the GA4GH Passports standard, in conjunction with the GA4GH AAI specification. Attendees will learn about the different visa types and fields that compose a GA4GH Passport, methods on implementing passport and visa policy checks, AAI security considerations, and more.

The GA4GH Passports webinars are part of an ongoing series of educational events to help the user community implement and engage with GA4GH standards. If you are interested in learning how digital identities can help automate and scale the data access process, or are just curious to hear more, please join us.

Webinar Part 1: “GA4GH Passports: Benefits of Integrating a Global Electronic ID for Accessing Biomedical Data” will be held on Wednesday, June 17, 4pm UTC. Register here.

Webinar Part 2: “Implementing GA4GH Passports and AAI: Technical Deep Dive” will be held a week later on Wednesday, June 24, 4pm UTC. Register here.