Three “interregional” projects have been selected for a share of €3.8 million through the EU-funded UNITE programme, with an aim to utilise data for innovation across heart failure, neonatal intensive care, and medical imaging.
The selection follows an open call that reportedly engaged more than 1,000 organisations and received 19 proposals from different European regions, seeking to improve accessibility of health data across borders and to deliver more personalised remote care.
The first project to be confirmed for funding is CARDIO-HUB, which utilises real-world data, AI-powered risk prediction, and remote monitoring to help improve care for elderly heart failure patients. In a LinkedIn post, UNITE Digital Health explains its development of the “Cardio-Passport” for Europe, works with connected IoT devices, a mobile app, and a travel mode feature, gives patients the ability to generate a standardised health summary to be securely shared with clinicians in other countries.
NEODATA+, the second project to be funded, aims to use highly sensitive datasets to enable earlier and more accurate clinical decision-making in neonatal intensive care. The third project, RAD-TRACK EU, looks to tackle radiation exposure in medical imaging, with a system allowing patient data to follow individuals as they move between different providers.
UNITE’s ambition is to overcome barriers to scaling innovation such as regulatory frameworks and fragmented infrastructure. “Together, these projects mark a decisive shift from isolated pilot experiments to full-scale deployment,” it shares.
Marina Samoylova, UNITE’s digital health programme manager, commented: “Europe has the data and expertise in digital health innovation—UNITE brings them together to scale solutions across regions and deliver real impact for healthcare systems and patients.”
Implementation of all three projects is already underway.
Wider trend: European health innovation
Wales has joined the UNITE European Digital Health Valleys project, opening up opportunities for Welsh innovators in the digital health and care space to apply for funding. The project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, has ambitions to drive collaboration in Europe around testing, development, and scaling health innovations. £700,000 has been awarded to the Welsh government to ensure the participation of Welsh organisations in new funding and partnership opportunities, and the government is now encouraging applications from SMEs, health boards, and universities.
The European Commission has published its Special Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade 2026, revealing the results of a survey conducted between February and March 2026 on thoughts about AI, technology, safety, and digital. Key findings include that public confidence in EU digital rights protection has risen “significantly” since 2025, with 51 percent now believing their rights are protected well, compared with 44 percent in the previous survey. Around 40 percent of citizens report using generative AI tools “at least weekly”, with 69 percent of existing users saying their usage has increased over the last year. Barriers to increased use are identified as privacy or data protection concerns (39 percent) and concerns around accuracy or incorrect information (36 percent).
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched a consultation on its proposals to extend existing transitional arrangements and continue to recognise medical devices approved in the EU “indefinitely”. The proposals put forward look to support the extension of measures put in place in 2023 to recognise CE marked medical devices on the British market to 2030, in a move the MHRA states is aimed at protecting patient access and ensuring continued supply of “safe and effective” medical technologies.
