The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service, Óscar López, has announced the launch of the National Health Data Space (ENDS) which will allow the sharing and use of health data with maximum guarantees of privacy, security and sovereignty. “Data saves lives and that is why it is an honor to launch the National Health Data Space here today, a public infrastructure that, without a doubt, will revolutionize Spanish healthcare. Spain is doing its part with this transformative and vital project. For this reason, the Government has allocated 70 million euros to build this infrastructure that allows access to data with privacy and security to improve research, healthcare and prevention.”
Óscar López made this announcement during the inauguration of the First National Meeting of Data Spaces, organized by the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence through the General Directorate of Data. The minister has participated in a dialogue with the researcher and commissioner of the PERTE for Cutting Edge HealthRaquel Yotti. Institutional representatives, beneficiary companies, autonomous communities and research centers meet at the event. The closing will be carried out by the Minister of Health, Mónica García.
The National Health Data Space is articulated as a network of independent platforms, including regional health systems, that connect with each other through common protocols to interact and exchange data. “This is a country project, an example of public-private collaboration and collaboration between administrations. If we asked citizens for what purposes they would transfer their data, I am sure they would say, to achieve progress, for medical research and the improvement of the health system,” López noted.
Under the leadership of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, the initiative has the key participation of the Ministry of Health and the Autonomous Communities which, as ultimately responsible for the management of health data, have received an investment of 28 million euros for the technological adaptation of their systems.
Its mission is to create an interoperable and coordinated ecosystem that promotes the secondary use of health data so that health professionals, researchers and companies can access large volumes of data under strict ethical and security standards, in order to discover patterns and treatments that improve the health system. “This National Health Data Space will allow information to be transformed into medical innovation because it will make our health system constantly learn and improve with its own data,” said the minister.
This system will allow data to be used responsibly for purposes of public interest such as research, health planning and the improvement of services, always with full respect for the protection of information and the rights of citizens. “We are taking a very important step today and I believe that projects like this are the ones that are worth it,” he highlighted.
Beyond providing a secure environment for high-quality data, the infrastructure deploys advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence tools. In addition, it guarantees a high capacity to perform numerous operations or calculations, which makes it possible to accelerate biomedical research and technological innovation. “In short, it is about converting digital bureaucracy into applied clinical practice, taking advantage of large volumes of data to study use cases on the consumption of antibiotics, the effects of COPD or the control of communicable diseases,” explained Óscar López.
The ENDS not only places Spain in a leading position within the future European Health Data Space (EEDS), but also ensures that the reuse of data is always carried out protecting people’s fundamental rights. “This project not only has a spectacular value in economic data but also in terms of health. Spain has decided to be a leader and a leader, and the possibilities we have, I believe, are infinite. We have all the political will, the resources and the best opportunities to become a vanguard in Europe and for this Spanish project to scale to the European level,” he stressed.
For her part, the PERTE Commissioner for Vanguard Health has assured that the ENDS will connect a huge amount of data in an intelligent way, coordinated with the CCAA, and facilitate that it can always be used oriented to the common good and guaranteeing all the rights of citizens.
Yotti has stressed that “the ENDS is a revolution that will allow us to have predictive models that allow us to anticipate the development of diseases, design better diagnoses and treatments and identify vulnerable populations.” “This platform will connect a huge amount of data in an intelligent way, coordinated with the CCAA, and make it easier for it to always be used for the common good and guaranteeing all the rights of citizens, including the privacy of their data,” he stated.
The Commissioner has given as examples data from electronic medical records, medical imaging, drug prescriptions, genomic data that can be associated with administrative data or population data.
Yotti has also highlighted the concept of citizen science and participatory medicine. “We need to count on citizens from the first moments of the innovation process: in the identification of needs, use cases, in the design of indicators and also in the implementation of the results. It is an opportunity to reinforce trust in science and in health professionals,” he noted.
Finally, he highlighted the leadership that Spain had during the presidency of the Council in the approval of the European Health Data Regulation, which will enter into force in 2029, by transferring to the European level the values of our universal public health system, in which equity is a fundamental element.
“When the regulation comes into force, our country will already have technological capabilities, very well-oiled governance models, and we will have had the opportunity to generate a much more cohesive, much stronger ecosystem,” he concluded.
The Plan to Promote Data Spaces
During his speech, the minister also referred to the intermediate results of the Plan to Promote Sectoral Data Spaceswhich is already mobilizing more than 400 million euros with 300 projects underway in 18 sectors of the economy.
This plan is a strategy developed by the ministry headed by Óscar López and whose objective is to promote innovation and improve competitiveness and the generation of value in all economic sectors, promoting the creation of data spaces where data can be shared securely.
Among the sectors with the greatest impact, health stands out, with projects aimed at collaborative research, personalized medicine and the improvement of health care. In this sense, Óscar López has reported that this sector is the one that has received the most budget from the Government of Spain with 78 million euros mobilized for 48 projects in this area, “imagine how many diseases can be prevented, how many drugs can be discovered,” added the minister.
