site.btaGATE Institute Leads Southeastern Europe Smart Healthcare Hub

The Big Data for Smart Society Institute (GATE) at Sofia University is the coordinator of a new European project aiming to stimulate innovation in Southeast Europe by creating a regional data space for smart healthcare and a sustainable local ecosystem in Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Romania, GATE said Wednesday.

The VELES project will develop cutting-edge technologies, such as big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of information for the benefit of personalized medicine, informed decision-making and improved healthcare services.

"We are honoured to lead this consortium, united by the common goal of accelerating healthcare innovation in the countries participating in the project. VELES is an essential next step in GATE's drive, as the hub of the International Association for Data Spaces, to drive data-driven national and regional economies through the initiation of data spaces in strategic sectors such as healthcare," said Prof. Silvia Ilieva, Director of the GATE Institute, coordinator of the project. VELES involves 15 partners from 7 countries, focusing on Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Cyprus. Partners from Sweden, Spain and Germany will be involved in the process of transferring experience and good practices. In addition to GATE, the project also involves three Bulgarian organizations - the Ministry of e-Government, Telelink Business Services EAD and Biotechnology and Health Cluster - Bulgaria.

The four-year project, funded by Horizon Europe, started on June 28-29, 2023 in Sofia. The first meeting of the project partners was hosted by the Ministry of e-Government. Addressing the participants, Director of the Strategic Communications Directorate Boycho Popov stressed that the Ministry is a natural partner in this kind of projects in view of the open and spatial data policy, and sees this as an opportunity to accumulate knowledge, experience and best practices in the field of smart healthcare.

VELES is developing a strategic framework and new methodologies to create opportunities for collaboration and sustainable development of data-driven innovation in healthcare. These include a research and investment strategy as well as an action plan to develop and implement secure and innovative solutions supporting the delivery of sustainable health services. VELES will demonstrate the potential of the regional smart healthcare data space through the implementation of four interconnected pilot projects focusing on cancer (Greece), Alzheimer's (Bulgaria), brain tumours (Romania) and dementia (Cyprus).