European funding programs for health and digital transformation: Engaging Greek organizations

The European programs for health and digital transformation for Greek organizations and researchers were presented at the HaDEA Info Day that took place on the 14th of May, 2024, at the premises of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance, in Athens.

Over 400 people attended the Info Day, onsite for via the zoom platform, and were able to get information about EU funding programmes in the digital and health sector.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Digital Governance, National Contact Point for Digital Europe, the National Documentation Centre (EKT), National Contact Point for Horizon Europe, the Ministry of Health, National Contact Point for EU4Health, and the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA).

Prof. Demosthenes Anagnostopoulos, Secretary General for Information Systems and Digital Governance, opened the event, highlighting the significant digital advancements in Greece over recent years and the need for collaboration between the public and private sectors to continue the country's digital transformation journey.

Dr. Kyriakos Tolias, Director of EKT, emphasized on EKT's support for digital transformation and health as a National Contact Point for European programs for three decades, and its initiatives that support the country's research and innovation ecosystem.

Dr. Aris Angelis, Secretary General for Strategic Planning of the Ministry of Health, underscored the necessity of digital transformation in the health sector in Greece to improve citizens' quality of life and align with European Commission regulations (EU Acts). He noted that the Ministry of Health leverages HaDEA funding programs to achieve digital transition in services provided to citizens.

In the next session, senior officials from the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) and the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission presented the Digital Europe, Horizon Europe, Connecting Europe Facility, and EU4Health funding programs. They detailed their key features, funding opportunities, and the synergies between them.

Dr. Antonis Stasis, General Director of Digital Governance, then took the floor, speaking about Greece's commitment to the goals of the "Digital Decade" Program by 2030, the action plan, and the challenges arising from this commitment.

Marina Zanchi, Director of the European Health and Digital Executive Agency, presented the structure of HaDEA, the key characteristics, and the budgets of the Digital Europe, Horizon Europe, and Connecting Europe Facility programs. She also provided statistical data for these programs, the absorption of European funds by Greek participation, and briefly introduced the Networks supporting them (NCP4Industry, Idealist, HNN3.0, etc.).

In the next session, detailed presentations were given on funding programs related to health and digital transformation.

Stéphane Hogan, Head of Unit for Health Research at HaDEA, presented the EU4Health Program, the Health Cluster (Cluster 1) in Horizon Europe, and programs related to agrifood. Katleen Engelbosch, Head of Department - Digital, Industry & Space, presented the Digital Technologies, Industry, and Space Cluster in Horizon Europe and the Connecting Europe Facility Program. Both speakers highlighted upcoming calls for proposals, funded projects, and the synergies between the various programs.

Elisavet Lippiatou, Head of Unit – Programme Implementation at DG CONNECT, presented the initiatives of the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, along with the goals for digital transition on a social and economic level, which promise multiple benefits for all European citizens and businesses. She discussed the Digital Decade Program and the new Digital Europe Programme (DEP), explaining how synergies are formed between the programs of HaDEA and DG CONNECT.

Then, the National Contact Points from the Ministry of Digital Governance, Eleni Chaniotaki, from EKT, Dr. Sofia Xesfingi and Marios Roidis, and from the Ministry of Health, Vasiliki Karaouli, presented their experience from their participation in the DEP, Horizon Europe and EU4Health programmes respectively, as well as the services they offer to the Greek research and innovation ecosystem.

Afterwards, there was a special section dedicated to the synergies between Health related Programs such as Horizon Europe Cluster 1, EU4Health and Digital Health, moderated by Florina Telea, Head of EU4Health Unit, HADEA and Stéphane Hogan, Head of Unit for Health Research, HaDEA.

The speakers explained the main features of the programs, the similarities and differences between them, and a discussion took place about the synergies that are formed and how researchers can take advantage of these synergies.

In the same section, projects financed by the abovementioned Programs were presented by the researchers themselves. Specifically, the projects Xt-EHR (EU4Health) were presented for the improved use of electronic health records, GR-HDAB (EU4Health) for e-governance, xShare (Horizon Europe) for the portability of personal health data, XpanDH (Horizon Europe) for the interoperability of digital health data and QUANTUM (Horizon Europe) for quantum technologies in health.

The next section was dedicated exclusively to EU Programs related to Digital Technologies, with coordinators Elisavet Lipiatou, Head of DG CONNECT, and Francois Junger, Deputy Head of Unit B2, Digital, HaDEA. The objectives of the Programs, their differences and their similarities, financing tools, open calls, the process and evaluation criteria were discussed. In addition, basic guidelines for building consortia were provided, as well as tips and best practices for successful funding proposals.

This was followed by a section dedicated to the synergies between Cluster 1 (Health) of Horizon Europe, EU4Health, the Cancer Mission and the corresponding programs, moderated by Stéphane Hogan, Head of Unit for Health Research, HaDEA and George Margetidis, Head of Sector A.1.1. EU4Health programme, HaDEA. Researchers who have received funding presented their projects.

The last section was dedicated to the conclusions and the vision for research results with a significant impact on the daily lives of European citizens.Specifically, the following initiatives were presented: JANE (EU4Health), aiming to establish 7 networks of expertise for cancer; CraNE (EU4Health), targeting the development of a comprehensive self-management model to enhance the well-being of cancer patients; eCAN (EU4Health), aspiring to provide a framework of recommendations for integrating telemedicine and remote monitoring into healthcare systems to reduce cancer care disparities across Europe; the CCI4EU initiative (Horizon Europe), aiming to assist member states and associated countries in reexamining the cancer culture by funding a more equitable knowledge transfer to all citizens; ECHoS - Establishing of Cancer Mission Hubs: Networks and Synergies (Cancer Mission | Horizon Europe) for creating cross-border communication and collaboration networks aligned with cancer mission objectives, coordinated by the ECPC; and ONCOSCREEN (Horizon Europe) endeavoring to design and develop an innovative set of technologies and methods for pre-symptomatic screening of colorectal cancer.

The last section was dedicated to the conclusions and the vision for research results with a significant impact on the daily lives of European citizens.

The event took place in the Press Room of the Ministry of Digital Governance, with a parallel digital broadcast.

The event was in English language. Attendees, whether attending live or online, had the opportunity to submit their questions to the speakers, all of which were answered at the end of each session.

Presentations of the event can be found here (.pdf), photos here and video of the event here.

For more information about the programs, you can contact Dr. Sofia Xesfingi, National Contact Point for Health and the Horizon Europe Cancer Mission at EKT (2102204913, sxesfingi@ekt.gr) and the National Contact Points for the "Digital Europe" Program at the Ministry of Digital Governance at ncp-dep@mindigital.gr.

The video of the event

National Contact Points' Meeting 

Following the event, next day 15th of May 2024, a closed meeting between the National Contact Points of the Ministry of Digital Governance, the Ministry of Health and EKT took place at the premises of the Ministry of Digital Governance, in the presence of HaDEA representatives. The purpose of the meeting was to record the services provided by the National Contact Points for the European funding programs to the country's researchers, organizations and businesses. The tasks performed and the communication networks available to them were recorded and evaluated.

It was a constructive meeting with knowledge transfer and best practices exchange, certifying the continuity to their work in the best possible way, supporting the Greek research and innovation ecosystem.