The Federated Platform Strategy was given by BBMRI-ERIC Common Service IT leads in advance of a tender calling for the federated search platform provision. More details can be found in this document: Federated Platform Strategy-v1.1

Prerequisities for connecting your biobank/collections to the Platform are:

• Collection(s) registered in the BBMRI-ERIC Directory
• Ability to create a virtual machine to run local component software
• Technical support available to the biobank (either local or via the national node)

Steps for getting connected are:

1. Get in touch with the Federated Search Task Force co-chairs
2. Read the BBMRI-ERIC Data Protection Concept and get approval from your Data Security office if it is required by your internal policy
3. Install the local component (see technical details below)
4. Export appropriate data from your system(s)
5. Transform them to standard format – HL7 FHIR or OMOP CDM based on the tool selected
6. Load the harmonized and standardized data to the local component
7. Connect your local component to the central component of the Federated Platform

For visibility in BBMRI-ERIC Locator you need to install a Bridgehead (local component for Locator)

• See basic hardware and software requirements at GitHub page

For visibility in BBMRI-ERIC Finder you need to install a BC Link (local component for Finder)

• Please, ask the Federated Search Task Force co-chairs for a license agreement
• Basic requirements are: Virtual Machine with minimum 8vCPU, minimum 16GB RAM, hard disc space according to the size of the data that you will be storing in the BC Link, e.g., 500GB.

• The Federated Platform is supposed to be a sustainable community driven effort currently heading to its wider deployment and maintainance. BBMRI-ERIC Common Service IT supports the integration of the Federated Platform into the IT ecosystem of BBMRI-ERIC, namely by providing integration with Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (AAI) and Negotiator.
• The BBMRI Federated Search Task Force organised already several informative and technical sessions for the BBMRI-ERIC national nodes and biobanks to increase the knowledge about Federated Platform tools and local components maintainance. This is performed as a so called "train the trainers" system which makes this whole initiative sustainable.
• The biobanks do not have to pay anything for the usage of the local component software but need to cover the costs for the technical realisation and data management by themselves. 

1. Date of diagnosis
2. Diagnosis
3. Diagnosis age donor (years)
4. Donor age (years)
5. Sampling date
6. Sample type
7. Sex
8. Storage temperature