Distributed Data Network (DDN)

The distributed data network (DDN) offers an efficient and widely adopted solution for multi-national studies, enabling safety monitoring by pooling data to overcome the limitations of rare events and exposures. DDN strengthens statistical power and generalizability while preserving patient privacy and data security. By keeping data within local repositories and sharing only aggregated results, DDN ensures compliance with privacy regulations and builds trust among stakeholders. This method includes the common protocol (CP) and common data model (CDM) approaches, which are the most frequently used and effective methods for cross-national collaboration in PHD centers.