Joint Symposium
17- 18 November 2022
EIT Health Germany-Switzerland and EIT Health Spain
In our age, leaving digital footprints is inevitable. Whether we shop online, count our steps or pay with our credit card, we generate data that is subsequently available to various interested parties. How this data can or should be used is the subject of various public discussions. When it comes to increasing security or gaining economic benefits, the thought of being looked through and monitored by unknown entities makes many people feel uncomfortable. Therefore, the sovereignty over one’s own data was legally recognised with the EU-wide introduction of the GDPR in 2016, regulating the issue of ownership and accessibility of data.
When it comes to the use of data in healthcare, these points and many other ethical aspects need to be considered. The digitisation of medicine allows the generation of qualitative and numerical data that could be highly valuable in research and the development of innovative healthcare solutions, such as AI-based or personalised systems.
While governments and healthcare organizations must protect patients’ rights over their personal and health data, there are strong ethical arguments to be made to facilitate this data for patients’ benefit. Finding the right balance between these two duties is the aim of some public-private initiatives. EU institutions are evaluating the installing of pan-European data systems to ensure sustainability and resilience of the European health system, and to react to growing pressure by industrial and educational stakeholders.
In May 2022, the European Commission responded to this pressure by proposing the European Health Data Space, a “health-specific ecosystem comprised of rules, common standards and practices, infrastructures and a governance framework”. This proposal aims at increasing individuals’ “digital access to and control of their electronic personal health data, nationally and cross-borders” while also “providing a consistent, trustworthy and efficient set-up for the use of health data for research, innovation, policy-making and regulatory activities”. EIT Health reacted to this proposal by publishing a statement, endorsing the efforts. EIT Health endorsed this proposal in its statement published on 5 May 2022.
Another approach that stands in contrast to this centralisation-oriented proposal is the Gaia-X project, which aims to establish a system of rules that guarantee individual data owners to exchange data in a trusted environment and promote the creation of new shared data spaces to create a digital economy.
These are questions that the EIT Health network regularly addresses when developing new solutions, introducing them into care systems and interacting with users. Contemporary products that use AI, personalised medicine, mobile services, and wearables must adhere to legal and ethical aspects in order to ensure trustworthiness. Since regulations vary on a national level, companies that develop data-driven healthcare products foster a close-knit network with institutions in several countries to match national requirements and sensitivities.
For the Joint EIT Health Germany-Switzerland & EIT Health Spain Symposium, we invite our partners, but also other interested stakeholders from both ecosystems, to explain and discuss these topics in the course of a two-day programme. Besides political considerations, representatives from industry and research will come to share their experiences and approaches in the field of data management.
As a result of the discussions, a statement paper will be developed in several working groups with the involvement of high-level ethics speakers. This paper will subsequently be published as the position of the EIT Health networks Germany-Switzerland and Spain to be included in the public discussion.
11:30-12:00 Welcome | Nandor Gaus (EIT Health RIH Germany-Switzerland), Cristina Bescos (EIT Health Spain), political representatives
11:20-13:00 Keynotes | Creating European Data solutions: Ongoing approaches and projects
13:00-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-17:00 Health Data Management in Focus – Learnings from research and industry across Europe | Parallel sessions of oral presentations drawn from abstracts
17:30-18:30 Innovation Market Place | Entrepreneurial Innovators
9:00-9:15 Taking a stand: Collecting Collaborative Positions and increasing outreach | Nandor Gaus (EIT Health RIH Germany-Switzerland), Cristina Bescos (EIT Health Spain)
9:15-10:00 Keynote | Ongoing ethical discussions | Representatives from Spanish and German Ethical Institutions
10:00-10:30 Morning Tea Break
10:30 – 12:45 Statement development Workshops (facilitated sessions)
12:45-13:00 Closing of Event & Next steps Nandor Gaus (EIT Health RIH Germany-Switzerland), Cristina Bescos (EIT Health Spain)
13:00-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-16:00 Closed Session | German-Swiss Partner Meeting (German-Swiss Partners only)
We cordially invite you to contribute to this high-level discussion with your abstract, share your company’s experiences and approaches and get involved in the political debate. Submissions of abstracts focussing on any of the above-mentioned (and related) topics are invited from any EIT Health core, associate and network partner associated with either EIT Health Germany-Switzerland or EIT Health Spain. We are also explicitly inviting all associated organisations from the respective local ecosystems in Germany, Switzerland and Spain to share their experiences.
Abstract submission deadline: 16 September 2022
Please download the template here and email your completed abstract to clc.germany@eithealth.eu by the due date. You will be informed in writing of whether your abstract has been selected for the programme and at what time your presentation is scheduled, no later than 3 weeks prior to the event.
Topics can include (non-exhaustive list):
On Day 1 of the symposium, start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs associated with EIT Health Germany or EIT Health Scandinavia will have the opportunity to present their technologies and collaboration offers/needs as part of the innovation marketplace. Please use the abstract template to briefly describe your company, technology and collaboration offer/need and send this to clc.germany@eithealth.eu by the abstract due date (see above). You will be informed in writing whether you will receive the opportunity to present at the innovation marketplace at least 2 weeks prior to the event.
In 2020, EIT Health Germany and EIT Health Innostars invited stakeholders and representatives from inside and outside of the EIT Health ecosystem to debate in the area of the very important and currently hotly discussed topic “Value-Based Health Care in Europe”. Are you interested in the presentations held and the outcomes of the workshops? Then click here for more detail.