Why digital health needs collaboration, not just innovation
Digital transformation in healthcare is no longer a question of if, but how. Across Europe, clinicians are encountering a rapid influx of digital tools—AI diagnostics, connected devices, remote monitoring, and data-driven decision support. Yet many innovations struggle to scale due to fragmented regulation, limited interoperability, insufficient trust, and weak stakeholder engagement.
This is precisely where European collaboration becomes essential. No single institution, country, or discipline can solve these challenges alone. The HIMSS25 European Projects Insight Report provides a snapshot of how EU-funded initiatives are collectively addressing these issues by co-creating solutions with clinicians, patients, regulators, and innovators. Rather than focusing solely on technology, the report highlights the conditions needed for digital health to deliver real-world clinical value.
What the European Projects Insight Report is — and why it matters
The European Projects Insight Report brings together insights from 12 EU-funded digital health projects showcased at HIMSS25 Europe. Its purpose is not to evaluate individual technologies in isolation, but to examine how these projects contribute to a broader transformation of healthcare systems. The report focuses on cross-cutting challenges such as cybersecurity, trust, health data access, interoperability, health technology assessment, and patient empowerment.
What makes this report particularly relevant for clinicians and health system leaders is its emphasis on translation into practice. Many EU-funded projects produce high-quality technical outputs, yet struggle with sustainability, scale-up, or regulatory alignment. The Insight Report explicitly addresses this gap by examining how innovation can be embedded into real-world healthcare settings. In doing so, it positions EU collaboration as a catalyst—not just for innovation, but for implementation.
SHAIPED featured at HIMSS 25
At HIMSS25, SHAIPED showcased its approach to safely deploying AI-based medical devices under EU regulations. Watch the coordinator explain the project’s vision and early impact in the video below.
Beyond SHAIPED, HIMSS25 showcased a range of European projects tackling key challenges in digital health, from cybersecurity and trust to data interoperability, AI, and patient empowerment:
- CYLCOMED (Cyber securitY tooLbox for COnnected MEdical Devices) is a 36-month Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action that ended in November 2025. It addressed the growing cybersecurity risks of connected medical devices, which can directly affect patient safety and clinical outcomes. The project developed lifecycle-based cybersecurity tools, methods, and training, integrating security into both design and clinical use to maintain trust in digital healthcare
- EDiHTA (European Digital Health Technology Assessment) responds to the challenge of evaluating digital health technologies that evolve more rapidly than traditional assessment frameworks allow. EDiHTA will be the first flexible, inclusive, validated and ready-for-use European HTA framework allowing the assessment of different digital health technologies at different maturity levels, different decision-making levels (national, regional and local) and perspectives.
- ENTRUST (End-to-End Trust Management for Connected Medical Devices) is a 36-month Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action that ends in Decembar2025. ENTRUST strengthened trust and privacy across the medical ecosystem by developing cybersecurity solutions, verified trust models, risk assessments, secure lifecycle procedures, security policies, technical recommendations, and the first real-time Conformity Certificates, embedding trust throughout the device lifecycle to enable safe and effective clinical use
- FLUTE (Federated Learning and Multi-party Computation Techniques for Prostate Cancer) explores how AI can be trained across institutions without transferring sensitive patient data. High-quality AI models require diverse datasets, yet privacy regulations often limit data sharing. By applying federated learning to prostate cancer imaging, FLUTE enables collaborative research while maintaining GDPR compliance. The project demonstrates how advanced analytics and data protection can coexist in clinical research.
- TRUMPET (Trustworthy Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning Platform) addresses how health data can be used at scale without compromising patient privacy through federated learning. TRUMPET enables advanced analytics while keeping data under local control. This approach supports multi-centre research and AI development without central data pooling.
- ONCOVALUE (Implementing value-based oncology care at European cancer hospitals) is a Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action. It aims to improve cancer care by unlocking high‑quality real‑world data from European cancer hospitals and applying AI‑based tools to generate real‑world evidence for regulators, HTA bodies, and clinicians. The project builds infrastructure and methods for structured data collection, harmonisation, and analysis to support value‑based assessment of novel cancer therapies and better decision‑making in clinical, regulatory, and policy context
- Gravitate-Health (Empowering Patients with Digital Health Information) runs until 30 June 2026 under the Innovative Medicines Initiative. The project aims to equip and empower citizens with digital information tools including the Gravitate Lens (G‑Lens) that improve access to and understanding of reliable health and medicines information, support safer use of medication, and enhance patient engagement and health outcomes.
- MedSecurance (Cybersecurity Assurance for the Internet of Medical Things) EU co-funded project that focuses on new technologies that address cybersecurity and safety assurance challenges for connected medical devices in the context of emerging healthcare architectures. The project developed novel methodologies, infrastructures, and tools to address cybersecurity and safety assurance challenges for connected medical devices in emerging healthcare architectures.
- NEMECYS (Security-by-Design for Connected Medical Devices) advances the principle that cybersecurity must be embedded early in device development. Retrofitting security after deployment is often costly and ineffective, particularly in clinical environments. The project develops tools and guidelines that support secure design, deployment, and operation of connected devices. NEMECYS contributes to a safer foundation for next-generation medical technologies.
- IDERHA (Interoperable Data Exchange for Real-World Health Analysis) contributes to building interoperable health data infrastructures aligned with the European Health Data Space. Fragmented data limits both clinical insight and research potential. By harmonizing data models and governance approaches, the project improves data usability across borders and institutions. IDERHA helps transform health data into actionable clinical knowledge.
- XiA (Xpanding Innovative Alliance) is an Erasmus+ co‑funded project running from January 2025 to December 2028. Building on the XpanDH foundation, it aims to bridge the skills gap in digital health interoperability by developing educational programmes, micro‑credentials, and training materials to prepare healthcare and IT professionals for European Health Data Space standards, fostering cross‑border collaboration and a more integrated, secure digital health ecosystem.
Strategic lessons from HIMSS25 European Projects Insight Report for translating innovation into practice
Several strategic lessons emerge across these projects. First, trust and cybersecurity are no longer optional add-ons; they are foundational to patient safety and clinical adoption. Second, interoperability and data governance must be addressed early, or innovation risks remaining siloed and unsustainable. Third, evaluation frameworks must evolve, particularly for AI and digital tools that do not fit traditional assessment models.
Perhaps most importantly, the projects show that stakeholder engagement is a determinant of success, not a checkbox exercise. Clinicians and patients involved from the start help ensure solutions align with real-world workflows, ethical expectations, and care priorities. Sustainability and scale are more likely when value is co-created rather than imposed.
What this means for the future of digital health in Europe
The HIMSS25 European Projects Insight Report illustrates a clear shift in how digital health innovation is approached in Europe. The focus is moving away from isolated technological breakthroughs toward system-level transformation grounded in trust, collaboration, and real-world impact. For clinicians, this means digital tools that are safer, more usable, and better aligned with patient needs. For health systems, it signals a pathway toward innovation that is both scalable and sustainable.
As Europe continues to build the European Health Data Space and align regulatory frameworks for AI and medical devices, projects like these provide practical guidance on how transformation can succeed. The future of digital health will not be built by technology alone—but by the communities that co-create, evaluate, and implement it together.
Further Reading
HIMSS25 European Projects Insight Report – Download the PDF.