During the conceptual phase 2016/2017 the share-it! consortium was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). The goal was to plan local data integration centres at all sites and to prepare their implementation and interconnection to enable cross-site data exchange.
The participating hospitals and sites intend to continue participation in the medical informatics initiative. To this end, BMBF is to provide additional funding for the development and networking phase.
The sites that planned the development of a data integration centre during the conceptual phase can join one of the four fully funded consortia for the development and networking phase (DIFUTURE, HiGHmed, MIRACUM, SMITH). The aim is for these additional sites to establish data integration centres in line with the consortium they are joining, and to take part in at least one of their use cases.
Existing IT infrastructure at participating sites was analysed, and suitable actors, components and processes systematically identified.
In addition to the focus on data integration centres, the consortium developed verifiable components (use cases) of high real-world relevance for four clinical scenarios. These will demonstrate the value added of cross-site data exchange for research and healthcare.
To ensure the long-term operation and further development of the target infrastructure at the participating sites, the consortium created a cross-site concept for enhancing medical informatics in research, education and ongoing skills development.
Key tasks within the project were shared equitably and cooperatively by all partners. These included basic principles of medical ethics and medical informatics, the technical design of data integration centres, detailed descriptions of the clinical scenarios and individual steps within those scenarios, and basic contractual provisions for later data usage.
Five working groups were formed for the conceptual phase (IT infrastructure, ethics and data protection, data usage and governance, clinical scenarios and use cases, education and development of young professionals), chaired by representatives of the various sites.
The definition of verifiable components (use cases) within clinical scenarios requires ongoing dialogue between hospitals, researchers and medical IT experts. Consortium partner OFFIS e.V., Oldenburg, promoted this exchange of ideas and information by holding multiple workshops.
The work of the consortium during this phase was coordinated by the strategic board and a project management team, supported by a professional project manager.