Health: Data ingestion capacities and data services for the European Genomic Data Infrastructure in the European Health Data Space: data tools

This summary outlines a funding opportunity under the Digital Europe Programme specifically targeting the improvement of the European Genomic Data Infrastructure in connection with the 1+ Million Genomes initiative. The call addresses applicants focused on health data infrastructure, particularly emphasizing genomics, biomedical research, and personalized medicine.

Eligible applicants primarily include research organizations, universities, technology providers, and potentially small and medium-sized enterprises working in health data infrastructure. This initiative encourages the formation of consortia due to its scope and complexity, with a total funding amount of €5 million available specifically for this purpose.

The call is characterized as a single-stage submission process with an opening date of November 4, 2025, and a deadline of March 3, 2026. Successful proposals will receive grants aimed at developing and deploying automated tools for data curation, integration, and access of genomic data, which are essential for research, healthcare improvement, and public health policy-making.

The funding aims to enhance data quality, establish secure and interoperable infrastructures, and align with GDPR compliance requirements. It involves creating tools for data quality assurance, metadata management, and citizen engagement, including a citizen portal for managing GDPR rights.

In terms of geographic eligibility, the participating countries generally include EU Member States, along with associated and candidate countries. The initiative is part of a broader strategic context aimed at harnessing data for healthcare advancements while ensuring ethical governance and data protection.

By early 2028, the outcomes of this project are expected to significantly contribute to personalized healthcare and public health efforts across Europe, ensuring that citizens retain control over their health data and enabling healthcare professionals to leverage genomic insights effectively. The complexity of the bidding process, coupled with the substantial technical requirements, suggests a competitive application landscape. Co-funding by project partners may be necessary, confirming the collaborative nature required for this initiative's success.

For precise details about eligibility, funding distribution, and application procedures, prospective applicants are encouraged to refer to the official call document and related resources provided by the Digital Europe Programme.

This is a call for proposals under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), specifically the AI Continent (DIGITAL-2026-AI-09) call. The topic is titled "Health: Data ingestion capacities and data services for the European Genomic Data Infrastructure in the European Health Data Space: data tools" with the topic ID DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-TOOL. It is a DIGITAL Simple Grant with a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG] Model Grant Agreement. The deadline model is single-stage. The planned opening date is 04 November 2025, and the deadline date is 03 March 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The objective of this action is to enhance the European genomic data infrastructure by supporting the deployment of advanced tools for data curation and use, aligning it with the European Health Data Space (EHDS). The focus is on improving data quality and volume within health data infrastructures supported by the Digital Europe Programme, particularly the Genomic Data Infrastructure (GDI) project, which implements the 1+ Million Genomes (1+MG) initiative of Member States. The availability of well-curated genomic data and related clinical and phenotypic information is seen as essential for advancing multi-modal data modelling, deployment, and health sector innovation in Europe.

The scope includes developing data tools for the 1+MG data infrastructure that are based on common standards and are as automated as possible. These tools should enable data quality checks at the source, benchmarking, annotation, and enhancement by data providers and the data infrastructure operator. The tools should cover the entire process of data inclusion, integration, and access provision, as well as compliance assessment, risk management, and data security assurance. All functionalities should cater to the needs of research, clinical care, and public health policymaking, following the 1+ Million Genomes initiative (1+MG Framework) standards and complying with the EHDS Regulation.

Specific requirements include data curation tools that facilitate dataset description using a metadata standard compatible with the EU Dataset Catalogue of the EHDS (Health DCAT-AP), including its data quality and utility label as defined in the project QUANTUM. Metadata should also include information about legal conditions and enablers for data sharing. The action should leverage best practices for linking clinical and genomic data at the individual level, within the EHDS framework, to maximize data access while preserving data security and privacy, using techniques like sampling, anonymisation, pseudonymisation, and data gap filling. Data minimisation tools should support compliance with GDPR rules.

The action also involves piloting and deploying tools, APIs, and interfaces to provide high-quality data services to users of the 1+MG data infrastructure for healthcare and public health policy, addressing any remaining user needs in research. Examples include APIs and interfaces for data discovery and federated analysis and modelling in secure processing environments. Adequate data de-identification/synthetisation methods and support for multi-modal data discovery and analysis across data infrastructures (e.g., linking with Cancer Image Europe and HealthData@EU) should be considered. The tools should be user-friendly to encourage high uptake of the data infrastructures and their services.

Furthermore, the action is expected to establish a citizen portal for 1+MG, enabling citizens to exercise their GDPR rights, such as accessing information about their data inclusion/processing, managing consent, and requesting data access, rectification, or erasure. All solutions should be compatible with the Simpl middleware platform and ensure interoperability with the HealthData@EU infrastructure. Authentication tools should be eIDAS-compliant. Links to AI Factories should be considered, while respecting data access prerogatives. The project should include a description of data access and usage arrangements.

The expected outcomes include:

Tools for automated data and metadata curation/inclusion/minimisation, fostering data quality assurance, and enabling compliance checks and risk/security management, developed, tested, and deployed in the 1+MG data infrastructure. These tools should align with agreed 1+MG requirements, related standards and procedures, and the legislative and technical framework of the European Health Data Space and European Digital Identity Framework.

Tools, APIs, and interfaces developed, tested, and deployed in the GDI, covering well-documented needs of users from research, healthcare, and public health policy, in alignment with the European Health Data Space.

A citizens’ portal, allowing at least management of GDPR rights of citizens and citizens’ engagement, established and operational at month 12 at the latest.

The budget for the DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-TOOL topic is 5,000,000 EUR for the year 2025. The funding will be distributed as a single grant.

Other related topics under the same call include:

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-AUTOMOTIVE (DIGITAL Simple Grants, 3,500,000 EUR, 1 grant)

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-STORAGE (DIGITAL Grants for Procurement, 17,500,000 EUR, 1 grant)

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-ECAVA (DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions, 1,000,000 EUR, 1 grant)

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-GENAI-PA (DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions, 1,800,000 EUR, 1 grant)

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-SOLUTIONS-CANCER-STEP (Digital SME Support Actions, 14,400,000 EUR, 1 grant)

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-VIRTUAL-TESTBEDS-STEP (DIGITAL Simple Grants, 17,000,000 EUR, 2 grants)

The admissibility conditions state that proposal page limits and layout are described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. Eligible countries are described in section 6 of the call document, as are other eligible conditions. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are detailed in section 7 of the call document. Submission and evaluation processes are described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual. Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are in section 9 of the call document. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is in section 4 of the call document. The legal and financial set-up of the grants is described in section 10 of the call document.

Applicants should refer to the call document and annexes, including the standard application form (DEP), ownership control declaration, DEP MGA, DEP Work Programmes, DEP Regulation 2021/964, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Guidance Classification on information in DIGITAL projects, Guidelines on How to Complete Your Ethics Self-Assessment, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

There are partner search announcements available for collaboration on this topic. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated in the topic header. For help, applicants can contact the provided email address or consult the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ and IT Helpdesk.

In summary, this Digital Europe Programme call seeks to fund projects that will develop and deploy advanced data tools to enhance the European genomic data infrastructure, ensuring data quality, interoperability, and compliance with GDPR and EHDS regulations. The goal is to facilitate the use of genomic data for research, clinical care, and public health policy, while also empowering citizens to manage their data rights. The call aims to bridge the gap between existing research functionalities and the specific needs of healthcare and public health sectors, fostering innovation and improving health outcomes across Europe.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, based on the nature of the Digital Europe Programme and the call's focus on enhancing European data infrastructure, eligible applicants could include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations involved in health, genomics, data science, and related technology development. The reference to European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) suggests that consortia of public and private entities may also be eligible.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically "DIGITAL Simple Grants" and "DIGITAL Grants for Procurement" as indicated in the budget overview. There are also "DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions" and "Digital SME Support Actions".

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required. However, given the complexity and scope of the project, a consortium of multiple applicants is highly probable, especially considering the aim to integrate various expertise and resources across different sectors and countries. The mention of the potential creation of a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (Genome EDIC) further suggests that collaborative projects are encouraged.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is not explicitly mentioned, but it can be inferred that the opportunity is primarily targeted at entities within the EU member states, considering the focus on enhancing European data infrastructure and alignment with EU regulations and initiatives like the European Health Data Space.

Target Sector: The program targets several interconnected sectors, including health, ICT, data science, genomics, research, public health, and digital infrastructure. Specifically, it focuses on enhancing the European genomic data infrastructure and aligning it with the European Health Data Space (EHDS).

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the opportunity is focused on the European Union and its member states, as it aims to enhance the European genomic data infrastructure and align it with the European Health Data Space (EHDS).

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project for this opportunity is primarily focused on piloting and deployment, as the call aims to support the deployment of advanced tools for data curation and use. It also addresses remaining user needs in research not yet covered by other projects, suggesting a focus on validation, demonstration, and potentially early commercialization stages.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call. The budget overview lists different topics with indicative funding amounts:
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-AUTOMOTIVE: €3,500,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-STORAGE: €17,500,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-TOOL: €5,000,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-ECAVA: €1,000,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-GENAI-PA: €1,800,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-SOLUTIONS-CANCER-STEP: €14,400,000
DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-VIRTUAL-TESTBEDS-STEP: €17,000,000

Application Type: The application type is an open call, as indicated by the single-stage deadline model and the availability of application forms in the Submission System.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants to support their projects.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage, meaning applicants submit a full proposal at once.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic is provided, which can give some insight into the potential competitiveness. For example, most topics indicate one grant, while one topic indicates two grants.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This EU funding opportunity, under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) and the AI Continent (DIGITAL-2026-AI-09) call, aims to enhance the European genomic data infrastructure by supporting the development and deployment of advanced tools for data curation, data quality assurance, and data use. The primary goal is to align this infrastructure with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and the 1+ Million Genomes (1+MG) initiative. The call targets a range of stakeholders, including data holders, research institutions, healthcare providers, and SMEs, to develop tools, APIs, and interfaces that facilitate data quality checks, benchmarking, annotation, and enhancement. Projects should focus on three main use scenarios: research, clinical care, and public health policymaking, while adhering to GDPR rules and ensuring interoperability with the HealthData@EU infrastructure. The call also emphasizes the establishment of a citizen portal for managing GDPR rights and promoting citizen engagement. The funding is provided through DIGITAL Simple Grants, DIGITAL Grants for Procurement, DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions and Digital SME Support Actions, with varying budget allocations for different topics. The application process is single-stage, with a planned opening date of November 4, 2025, and a deadline of March 3, 2026. This initiative is crucial for advancing health sector innovation in Europe by ensuring high-quality, interoperable, and accessible genomic data.