As Europe is reluctantly exiting the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation has emerged as the inevitable path for healthcare organisations. In particular, the secondary use of healthcare data offer unprecedented opportunities for improving the quality of care and building sustainable healthcare systems. Against this backdrop, the Lisbon Council and International Data Corporation (IDC) teamed up to host an online briefing on Data-Driven Healthcare: Best Practice and the Road Ahead. The online briefing is the fifth in a webinar series and part of a long-term European Union funded study on “Building a European Data Economy.” Bringing together leading experts in the data economy, the roundtable featured new research on The Secondary Use of Health Data and Data-Driven Innovation in the European Healthcare Industry published by the European Data Market Study and focused on how data is powering digital innovations in the healthcare sector.
Gabriella Cattaneo, associate vice-president for European government consulting at the International Data Corporation, opened the discussion offering a tour d’horizon of the European data economy and how it is projected to grow in the post-COVID-19 era. Adriana Allocato, research manager at IDC Health Insights Europe in the International Data Corporation, gave a thought-provoking presentation on the strategic importance of the secondary use of data in the healthcare sector and offered recommendations on how healthcare providers can overcome the “digital deadlock” they are experiencing. Jaana Sinipuro, project director for Human-Driven Data Economy (IHAN) at Sitra – the Finnish Innovation Fund, delivered the keynote presentation on the secondary use of health data in Finland and gave an insight on Sitra’s plans in building a European Health Data Space involving 25 European member states. David Osimo, director of research at the Lisbon Council, chaired the session and gave welcoming and concluding remarks.