Data form the foundation of modern evidence-based medicine. Technical and social innovation requires data. Based on data, companies develop medicines and medical devices, while researchers improve treatment methods and therapeutic approaches. The cross-sector exchange of data in healthcare is associated with high expectations, as it enables the creation of shared applications and solutions to address health-related challenges.

This requires a digital infrastructure built on European values such as freedom, democracy, and equality, and which enables innovation through collaboration. In the sensitive area of health data, trust must be ensured from the outset through data sovereignty, in order to protect the interests of both companies and patients.

At its core, data sovereignty means that control over data remains with the stakeholder who collects the data or to whom it relates. This protected space, through which data exchange can take place, is referred to as a collaborative health data space. Such a data space is understood as a federated, open infrastructure for sovereign data exchange, based on common agreements, rules, and standards.