Putting the Trust into Trusted Data Repositories: A Federated Solution for the Australian National Imaging Facility

The National Imaging Facility (NIF) provides Australian researchers with state-of-the-art instrumentation — including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), X-ray computed tomography (CT) and multispectral imaging – and expertise for the characterisation of animals, plants and materials.
To maximise research outcomes, as well as to facilitate collaboration and sharing, it is essential not only that the data acquired using these instruments be managed, curated and archived in a trusted data repository service, but also that the data itself be of verifiable quality. In 2017, several NIF nodes collaborated on a national project to define the requirements and best practices necessary to achieve this, and to establish exemplar services for both preclinical MRI data and clinical ataxia MRI data.
In this paper we describe the project, its key outcomes, challenges and lessons learned, and future developments, including extension to other characterisation facilities and instruments/modalities.