The Hellenic Digital Health Cluster (HDHC) welcomed the partners of the VELES Excellence Hub for the 6th Plenary Meeting in Heraklion, Crete, from 5–6 November, hosted at the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH). In parallel, HDHC organized the event “Building Synergies in Digital Health – Powered by HDHC,” where partners had the opportunity to connect with innovative projects and companies from Crete’s digital health ecosystem.
🔸VELES Partners Meeting
The 15 Consortium Partners of the VELES Excellence Hub — representing four widening countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Cyprus) and three developed countries (Germany, Sweden, and Spain) — convened to continue refining the Regional Smart Health Data Space framework.
The meeting focused on progress across the four pilot studies — Cerebral Tumors (Romania), Alzheimer’s Disease (Bulgaria), Cancer Treatment (Greece), and Dementia (Cyprus) — which serve as real-world testbeds for implementing and validating the VELES framework. Discussions also covered the Cross-Border Joint R&I Strategy and Action Plans, as well as innovation uptake activities, such as fostering cross-country research and industry PhD programs. In addition, partners explored sustainability and exploitation pathways, including stakeholder engagement through collaborative initiatives.
Aligned with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) requirements, the VELES project aims to build a Regional Smart Health Data Space that supports secure, interoperable, and innovative data use across Southeast Europe. Stay tuned for upcoming reports, workshops, and events from the VELES project!
🔸"Building Synergies in Digital Health" Event
In parallel with the VELES meeting, HDHC successfully organized the event “Building Synergies in Digital Health – Powered by HDHC,” which brought together the broader innovation ecosystem of Crete. The event united FORTH projects and laboratories, VELES project partners, and HDHC members to exchange knowledge and explore new collaborations.
The event opened with Dimitrios G. Katehakis (HDHC & CeHA Center for eHealth Applications & Services, ICS-FORTH), followed by welcome remarks from Prof. Panagiotis Tsakalides (ICS-FORTH).
The first session highlighted several pioneering initiatives in digital health. Prof. Evangelos Markatos presented the regulatory framework of the EHDS and explained how the xShare project and YellowButton initiative aim to enhance health data sharing and interoperability. Dr. Valia Kalokyri introduced the European Federation for Cancer Images (EUCAIM) project, emphasizing its contribution to advancing AI-driven cancer imaging. Prof. Dimitrios Plexousakis discussed the work of the smartHEALTH European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH), highlighting its role in supporting innovation and digital transformation in healthcare. Prof. Prodromos Sidiropoulos shared insights from the Pancretan Health Association’s patient data registry, while Dr. Angelina Kouroubali (CeHA, HDHC) presented the VELES project, linking the two events and their common vision.
The second session focused on the real-world utilization of health data for smart health solutions. Dr. Maria Makridaki showcased the PRECISEU project, emphasizing its focus on precision medicine and personalized care. Emmanouil Spanakis from TRAQBEAT TECHNOLOGIES PC, Giorgos Papoutsoglou from JADBio AutoML, both HDHC members, and Stalo Iosif from 3AE Health LTD (Cyprus), presented their organizations’ approaches to leveraging real-world data in health monitoring, analytics, and decision support. The session concluded with Dimitrios G. Katehakis, who presented the CeHA Center’s suite of digital health services.
Both the VELES Plenary Meeting and the Synergies event demonstrated the shared commitment of European and Greek stakeholders to foster collaboration and innovation in digital health. By connecting research institutions, enterprises, and regional actors, HDHC continues to strengthen the Greek digital health ecosystem, paving the way for new synergies and impactful collaborations across European regions.