Lisbon, Portugal––Tue 21 Jan 2025 – The Xpanding Innovative Alliance (XiA) project, is co-funded by the Erasmus + Programme, Alliances for Innovation – Lot 2: Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills (implementing the ‘Blueprint’), and represents a significant milestone in digital healthcare. Building on the foundations of the successful XpanDH project, XiA seeks to address key interoperability challenges while preparing healthcare professionals for the advanced standards of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) regulation. It is linked with the Pact for Skills, that aims to get public and private organisations together and encourage them to make concrete commitments to upskilling and reskilling adults.
The XpanDH project laid the groundwork for developing scalable training in healthcare interoperability, creating the tools and networks that the Xpanding Innovative Alliance (XiA) project will now expand. By enhancing educational frameworks, XiA aims to amplify the impact of its predecessor, ensuring a broader reach and a stronger focus on real-world application. Through the creation and distribution of high-quality materials and courses about digital health interoperability, XiA aims to empower stakeholders—healthcare professionals, providers, and health IT providers and digital health solution providers—with the necessary skills to embrace EHDS-related standards and foster a culture of interoperability.
Spanning 48 months and involving 23 organisations from 18 European countries, XiA focuses on bridging the digital skills gap, promoting adoption of the European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format (EEHRxF), and linking interoperability with other major issues (cybersecurity, …).
A High-Impact Project: Facts and Figures
Core Objectives:
• Build upon XpanDH’s success by creating personalised learning pathways for healthcare professionals and industry stakeholders.
• Issue micro-certifications (microcredentials) recognised across Europe, enabling career growth and cross-border employability.
• Innovate in educational practices by integrating interoperability training into healthcare programmes.
Expected Outcomes:
• Certified training for over 10,000 professionals across Europe by 2028.
• Expanded adoption of EEHRxF-compliant solutions to facilitate seamless, secure cross-border healthcare collaboration.
• Establishment of sustainable educational networks, such as a Community of Practice (CoP), to ensure the project’s long-term impact.
A Pan-European Alliance: XiA Consortium Members
The XiA consortium unites leading academic institutions, hospitals, private enterprises, and NGOs from across Europe, including:
• Portugal: ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, UMinho, Unidade Local de Saúde de Santo António
• Finland: Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Clinipower Finland Oy
• Greece: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Crete
• France: Fyrstain
- Italy: Fondazione Toscana “Gabriele Monasterio”
- Ireland: ECHAlliance
- Germany: Deggendorf Institute of Technology
• Spain: NTT Data Spain
• Belgium: European Health Management Association , Community Support for Clinical Terminologies
• Norway: University of Oslo
• Slovakia: Digital Health Slovakia
• Estonia: TalTech
Associated members include: EFMI, HL7 Europe, UCY, Gnomon, UWTSD, HL7-PL, SERMAS
This diverse consortium combines expertise from education, clinical practice, and private enterprise, ensuring a multidisciplinary approach to achieving the project’s goals.
“XiA builds on the achievements of XpanDH, taking the next logical step in preparing Europe’s healthcare workforces for the challenges of digital transformation. Interoperability, strengthened by EEHRxF and cybersecurity standards, ensures safer, more effective, and patient-centred care. XiA seeks to create sustainable partnerships that empower healthcare providers and digital health companies alike.”
Henrique Martins, XiA Project Coordinator and Associate Professor at ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.
________________________________________
About XiA
Leveraging the results of the XpanDH project, XiA employs an interdisciplinary approach to deliver impactful and accessible training tools. Educational modules will focus on interoperability standards such as Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), EEHRxF, and critical aspects of cybersecurity. The project also aims to build lasting awareness among policymakers and private sector leaders about the importance of secure and interoperable digital transformation for sustainable healthcare.
XiA is part of a broader EU effort to strengthen cross-border collaboration in healthcare, aligning with the European Union’s vision for a unified digital health ecosystem.
ECHAlliance role
We are proud to play a pivotal role in the XiA project, leveraging our global network to drive impactful dissemination, engagement, and sustainability activities. Central to our efforts is the creation and expansion of the Community of Practice (CoP), ensuring project outputs reach and resonate with a wide audience across Europe. We are responsible for stakeholder engagement by identifying, engaging, and mapping digital health ecosystem players to support knowledge exchange. ECHAlliance leads WP7 (Innovation Alliance and Interoperability Strategy) and co-leads WP8 and WP9 (Communication, Dissemination, and Sustainability), focusing on sustainability, dissemination, and policy recommendations.
We are also responsible for facilitating policy engagement with EU bodies, Ministries of Health, and Higher Education institutions to reinforce the project’s impact. Additionally, we contribute to the development of an interoperability skills strategy, aligning with EHDS and other European digital health policies.
________________________________________
For more information, please contact our team:
bru-dhi@iscte-iul.pt
Follow the XiA project: Linkedin Page
