The Medical Informatics Initiative (MII) was launched in 2016 by the former Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It successfully uses medical data from routine care for research—benefiting patients and biomedical research as a whole. The MII represents a decade of significant progress toward modern, data-driven medicine.
10 Years of the Medical Informatics Initiative
Anniversary Symposium 2026
On March 24 and 25, 2026, the symposium marking the 10th anniversary of the Medical Informatics Initiative took place at the dbb forum berlin. Key stakeholders in digital health research came together to take stock and discuss perspectives for the years ahead. The welcoming address was given by Matthias Hauer,
Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), which funds the project.
The symposium impressively demonstrated how digital health data have transformed research and healthcare—and will continue to do so in the future. It became clear that Germany now has a powerful infrastructure that enables the large-scale use of clinical data for research, thereby laying the foundation for a new, data-driven form of medicine.
Read More About the Symposium
The symposium was held under the motto: “Future of Health: Using Data. Strengthening Connectivity. Shaping Innovation. Ten Years of the Medical Informatics Initiative – A Foundation for Research, Healthcare, and Digital Sovereignty in Europe.”
Topics on the program included, for example: from research to clinical practice—applications and successes of the Medical Informatics Initiative; regulatory developments through the MDR and AI Act—opportunities, strategies, and impacts on academic projects; as well as the successful use of the MII infrastructure. Particular focus was placed on key data usage projects such as the Health Research Data Portal (FDPG) and the nationwide Data Integration Centers (DIZ).
Here you will find our post-event report.
The Symposium in Pictures
On this page, you will find images from the MII Symposium 2026, held on March 24 and 25, 2026. It was part of the “Science Year” under the theme “Medicine of the Future.” The symposium also included the annual congress of the Digital Progress Hubs for Health (DigiHubs). You can find our image gallery here.
More About the Medical Informatics Initiative
The Medical Informatics Initiative has created the foundation for closer integration between research and healthcare. All university hospitals in Germany are working together with research institutions, companies, health insurance providers, and patient organizations to establish the necessary framework conditions so that insights from research can directly benefit patients. Further information is available here.
