Driving Innovation in Health Data & Digital Health

Last week in Brussels, healthcare providers, start-ups, policymakers, and researchers came together to address a pressing challenge: how to innovate by accessing, sharing, and using health data in real-world settings—at scale and within regulatory boundaries. Over two days, participants explored the European Health Data Space (EHDS), the AI Act, and the role of real-world collaborations in making digital health solutions a reality.

This event builds on discussions from our second EHDS roundtable in November 2024.

Day 1 – Navigating the EHDS & AI Act in Practice

The Workshop for Healthcare Providers focused on unlocking the potential of health data while addressing the practical hurdles of implementation. With the EHDS and AI Act on the horizon, participants shared best practices and discussed solutions to real-world challenges.

Hans Constandt (FAQIR) illustrated the challenges of accessing and managing health data in Europe, showing how this affects both innovation and daily healthcare delivery. He shared a striking example: while doctors have only minutes per patient, retrieving all necessary data and PDFs can now take anywhere from 10–20 to even 60–80 minutes. The real challenge is not just technology but how we organise healthcare data and integrate digital tools into clinical workflows and business models.

Kevin Groot Lipman (Netherlands Cancer Institute) showcased the potential of AI-assisted measurements in improving patient care, emphasising that successful adoption requires more than just great models. Real-world data and deployment are often messy, making strong IT systems essential. AI results don’t need to be perfect, but implementation must be seamless to ensure adoption. The best outcomes come when AI supports clinicians rather than attempting to replace them.

Participants engaged in five interactive workshops tackling critical challenges in digital health implementation. Discussions covered data quality, patient engagement, staff awareness, change management, and legal challenges, with each session focused on practical solutions and follow-up actions. The day concluded with Petra Ritter (Charité) presenting TEF-Health, a European initiative that provides testing environments for SMEs to validate their health innovations. She highlighted the 5 Safes framework for secure and ethical health data management, ensuring responsible use of sensitive data while fostering innovation.

Day 2 – From Ideas to Impact

The second day focused on solutions, collaboration, and funding opportunities. Hospitals and start-ups presented real-world applications of digital health innovations, demonstrating how health data can be used effectively in clinical practice. Hospitals showcased the facilities they offer for testing and highlighted successful collaborations with start-ups to help validate new technologies in real-world healthcare environments. Meanwhile, start-ups presented AI-driven decision support tools, predictive analytics, and digital health solutions designed to enhance hospital efficiency and patient care. These partnerships are essential to scaling innovation and ensuring new solutions are fit for clinical use.

A panel discussion brought together experts to explore the EHDS, its challenges, and its opportunities. Perspectives from public authorities, hospitals, the European Commission, and start-ups provided a comprehensive view of how the EHDS can drive innovation while ensuring compliance and trust. Funding opportunities were also highlighted, with organisations such as EP PerMed, TEF-Health, MEDVIA, WIN2WAL, and EIT Health Accelerator offering insights on financial support for start-ups.

Key Takeaways: A Call for Collaboration

Bart Haex wrapped up the two days with a key reflection: we have all the ingredients, but we don’t yet have the full recipe for success. The key to unlocking the potential of health data and digital innovation lies in collaboration.

These two days have set the stage for further discussions and partnerships, helping to bridge the gap between policy, technology, and real-world healthcare practice. As this event format will be repeated in other regions, we look forward to expanding these conversations across Europe.

This event was co-organised by Multitel, TEF-Health, Medvia, hub.brussels, TRAIL – Trusted AI Labs, VITO, Agoria, AI4Belgium, BioWin, Cetic, and EIT Health Belgium-Netherlands.

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