02 April 2025

On 26 March, EIF organised an event titled "Advancing Preventive Care: The Role of AI and Data Governance", discussion which explored how artificial intelligence (AI) and data governance can reshape preventive healthcare across Europe. With healthcare systems under pressure and technology rapidly evolving, the event gathered policymakers, industry leaders, and data experts to examine how digital tools can enhance early detection, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes. Speakers addressed the promise of AI in screening and prediction, the regulatory and ethical frameworks needed to safeguard patient rights, and the transformative potential of the European Health Data Space.

Advancing preventive care: The Role of AI and Data Governance

 

Opening the event, MEP Kristian Vigenin emphasized the shift from reactive to preventive healthcare, calling AI and data governance essential to enabling earlier intervention and better outcomes. He highlighted AI’s capabilities in analyzing health records, genomic data, and wearable technology outputs to detect patterns often missed by human oversight. However, he cautioned that fragmented data systems and the ethical use of data pose ongoing challenges. “The future of healthcare lies in prevention,” he concluded, advocating for robust data governance frameworks and greater collaboration among governments, institutions, and technology leaders.

Fulvia Raffaelli, Head of the Digital Health Unit at DG SANTE, highlighted the transformative yet complex role of AI in healthcare, noting its capacity to deliver more personalized and effective care. She confirmed that the European Health Data Space regulation had officially entered into force, laying the groundwork for citizens to access and control their health data across the EU by 2029. Ms Raffaelli emphasized the importance of trust, the integration of diverse datasets, and the need for strong political and stakeholder support to make the system a reality. She also pointed to the AI Act and cybersecurity initiatives as key enablers of safe and ethical AI use in clinical settings.

Dr. Stefaan Verhulst, Co-founder of The Data Tank, stressed the necessity of rethinking data governance to support preventive care. He called for expanding the definition of health data to include sources such as retail, air quality, and urban infrastructure, arguing that consent-based governance models often hinder data reuse. To address this, Mr Verhulst proposed introducing “social licenses” reflecting community expectations and called for the establishment of dedicated data stewardship roles. He also warned against unfocused data strategies and urged prioritization of specific use cases to ensure the European Health Data Space delivers tangible societal benefits.

Gianluca Violante, Senior Manager for Digital Health Policy at Digital Europe, welcomed the entry into force of the European Health Data Space and praised its potential to unlock the value of health data. Representing a broad range of digital health stakeholders, he highlighted barriers such as lack of interoperability, underutilized hospital data, and gaps in digital literacy among professionals. Mr Violante underscored the importance of regulatory coherence across EU frameworks and called for clear, harmonized guidelines to support innovation, especially for smaller companies. He closed by urging EU institutions to keep digital healthcare a top political priority in the coming years.

Videos

  • 42:00 Cyber resilience of European healthcare: readiness of the sector
  • 7:33 Juan Jimenez, Santander on the economic and societal impact of tokenization
  • 35:56 Navigating the EU cloud regulatory landscape
View more

Related content

European Internet Forum ©2025. All Rights Reserved.