The symposium was opened by Sebastian C. Semler, Head of the Coordination Office of the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII) and Managing Director of TMF e.V., as well as Jens Bussmann, Secretary General of the Association of German University Hospitals (VUD). Together with the German Association of Medical Faculties, these two organizations form the executive management of the MII Coordination Office. The MII is funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR).
The symposium was held under the motto:
“Future Health: Using Data. Promoting Networking. Shaping Innovation. Ten Years of the Medical Informatics Initiative – Foundation for Research, Healthcare, and Digital Sovereignty in Europe,” and took place at the dbb forum berlin.
Sebastian C. Semler reflected in his opening lecture, “10 Years of the Medical Informatics Initiative”: In 2016, Germany had a fragmented healthcare system with many standards and legal barriers to multicenter research. “Today, there are cross-institutional federated data infrastructures with data integration centers, a core dataset, overarching use cases, and additional legal frameworks,” he explained. A central access point is the Health Research Data Portal (FDPG). “The MII has laid the decisive foundation for the European Health Data Space,” he said. “The Digital Progress Hubs Health are the next stage of expansion of the MII. MII standards are being reused, for example, in the Network University Medicine and within NFDI4Health. All of this provides a strong foundation for Germany as a research location.”
The keynote was delivered by Prof. Dr. Björn Eskofier, Chair of AI-Supported Therapy Decision-Making at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His keynote, “AI for the Healthcare of the Future – How Data Becomes Medicine,” highlighted that future medicine will be data-driven. “The key is to be able to use health data from research and care in both breadth and depth to enable more precise and personalized medicine,” he stated. AI will increasingly support physicians in diagnostics and therapy. For AI to realize its full potential for patients, sustainable data infrastructures and clear science policy strategies are needed. With the MII and the European Health Data Space (EHDS), important foundations are also being established in Germany and Europe.
This was followed by a welcoming address from Matthias Hauer, Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMFTR. “The MII has shown what is possible when science, healthcare, and policy take the digital leap together. With your pioneering work, you have built a forward-looking data infrastructure,” he emphasized. He pointed to the Health Research Data Portal (FDPG), which provides researchers access to extensive health datasets, including over 3 billion laboratory values. “This makes our health research AI-ready. Your work has created this strong foundation,” he added. Over the past ten years, the BMFTR has funded the MII with more than €500 million. The MII is already opening new pathways for research and transforming everyday clinical practice.
The first session, “From Research to Clinical Practice: Applications and Successes of the Medical Informatics Initiative,” showcased how MII transfers data-driven innovations into healthcare. It featured use cases from cardiology, oncology, medication safety, and text processing. Prof. Dr. Sven Zenker (University Hospital Bonn) presented the ACRIBiS project, which established standardized routine documentation across sites to develop IT-supported risk models for cardiovascular diseases, involving over 3,000 patients. Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler (University Hospital Heidelberg) presented INTEGRATE-ATMP, focusing on improved care through drug registries, clinical dashboards, and a patient app. Dr. Christian Müller (Bayer AG) discussed DATA-Insight, highlighting potentials and limitations of data use via FDPG and the Research Data Center (FDZ). Prof. Dr. Dr. Melanie Börries (University Hospital Freiburg) demonstrated PM4Onco, integrating cancer registry data to enable research on rare cancers. Dr. Daniel Neumann (University of Leipzig) presented INTERPOLAR, identifying tens of thousands of medication-related problems in healthcare data. Justin Hofenbitzer (TUM University Hospital rechts der Isar) showcased GeMTeX, enabling AI-ready clinical text annotation.
Session 2 focused on “Regulatory Developments through MDR & AI Act.” Prof. Dr. Myriam Lipprandt (RWTH Aachen) explained the distinction between translation (from basic research to clinical routine) and transfer (from academia to industry). Her project “fit4translation” supports researchers in meeting regulatory requirements. Dr. Oliver Bujok (innoVance GmbH) discussed MDR reform and its implications for AI-based medical products, including regulatory requirements and EU reforms.
Session 3, “Using MII Infrastructure Successfully,” demonstrated how FDPG and Data Integration Centers (DICs) enable data use projects. Examples ranged from SMITH data analyses to pediatric research involving data from around 750,000 children. Prof. Irit Nachtigall highlighted gender-specific differences in sepsis outcomes, showing the importance of structured data for evidence-based care.
Session 4 addressed “The Role of Data Integration Centers,” covering secure research environments (“data hotels”), interoperability, organizational management, and regulatory challenges, including ETL processes and implementation of standards such as FHIR and OMOP.
Session 5, “Next Gen MII,” featured a Science Slam by junior research groups, presenting innovative ideas such as AI-supported scheduling, challenges in translating research into practice, and tools for developing phenotype models without IT expertise.
Session 6 discussed partnerships between research and industry. Speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration, interoperability standards like FHIR and SNOMED, and challenges in translating innovations into routine care, particularly due to regulatory and data protection issues.
Day 2: Annual Symposium of the Digital Progress Hubs Health
The second day opened with the DigiHubs symposium. Dr. Johanna Ludwig (gematik GmbH) delivered the keynote, emphasizing that digitalization must serve real people. She highlighted the importance of comprehensive access to patient data and stressed that digital solutions like electronic patient records only succeed with user acceptance.
Session 7 presented DigiHub results, including cross-sector data integration, emergency care interfaces, and patient-centered digital tools. Despite progress, challenges remain in standardization, reimbursement, and scalability.
Session 8 focused on future collaboration across sectors, emphasizing scalable solutions, structured data use, and barriers such as regulatory requirements and lack of incentives.
Session 9 highlighted insights from MII working groups, including data management, communication, consent management, and interoperability, demonstrating how collaboration fosters standards and efficient data use.
Session 10 examined how MII structures connect with national and European infrastructures, including NFDI4Health, Gaia-X, and genomic initiatives, showcasing interoperability and collaboration.
The final session, “Medical Informatics in Transition,” reviewed past developments and future perspectives. Representatives from major consortia (DIFUTURE, HIGHmed, SMITH, MIRACUM) discussed progress in data integration and practical applications, highlighting the continued evolution of medical informatics toward a data-driven, patient-centered healthcare system.
At the end, links were provided to the image gallery and the press release of the symposium.
