On 25 June 2026, members of the Vanguard Initiative Smart Health Pilot gathered in Brussels for a productive Pilot Meeting hosted by the co-leading regions Flanders, South Netherlands and East Netherlands at the House of the Dutch Provinces. The meeting brought the Smart Health innovation ecosystem of member regions, as well as selected speakers from the European Commission and EU networks to discuss the latest policy developments, showcase innovative projects and prepare future collaborative initiatives.
Following the welcoming words of the three co-leading regions represented by Jolien Roovers from Flanders Government, Vera Leonhart from Oost Netherlands, and Dirk Plees from the Proving of Limburg, Simona Androni, Policy Analyst at DG REGIO opened the meeting and presented the key outcomes of the S3 Community of Practice Annual Conference, highlighting the growing strategic role of S3 Partnerships and Vanguard Initiative Pilots in strengthening European competitiveness through interregional cooperation and value chain development. Participants also received updates on:
- the future European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) meant to be a powerful value chain builder, with health as a key priority,
- the upcoming I3 Instrument calls for 2026 and 2027, with a slight increase in total budget and in terms of funding rate for FSTP
- and the new support services available through the S3 Community of Practice (governance, funding, policy advocacy, cross-Partnerships collaborations, etc.).
Anna-Pia Papageorgiou (DG RTD) then presented the EU Life Sciences Strategy, aimed at positioning Europe as the global leader in life sciences by 2030 through stronger research and innovation ecosystems, increased use of AI and health data, and improved regulatory frameworks. She also highlighted the strategic importance of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) and the role of the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed), which will invest €375 million over the next decade to accelerate innovation in Personalised Medicine.
Inspiring experiences from EU projects – The DIGIONE I3, HealthChain I3 and BIGAN projects – driving innovation in Personalised Medicine demonstrated how interregional collaboration is accelerating digital health, healthcare data integration and the deployment of innovative solutions across European regions.
The next session focused on the progress of the Smart Health Pilot’s demonstration cases. Demo case leaders presented recent achievements from We Are, RegMed XB, Mobile Health (R)evolution and TRACE-MED, while two new demo case ideas, CardioTeleRehab and Rehabilitation, were pitched, further expanding the Pilot’s portfolio of collaborative initiatives.
The morning session ended with the intervention of Klaus Niederländer, the Vanguard Initiative Secretary General who presented the future vision for the evolution of the Vanguard Initiative Pilots and their contribution to European industrial competitiveness and regional innovation ecosystems.
The afternoon session was dedicated to exploring upcoming networking opportunities and open calls to accelerate innovation and interregional cooperation in Personnalised Medicine.
Practical interventions from the EUREKA Network, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) and Horizon Europe National Contact Points (NCPs) presented collaboration opportunities and provided insights and advice on consortium building, proposal preparation and project development. This session was followed by an active discussion on selected funding opportunities, where participants exchanged ideas for future collaborative projects.
This meeting once again proved the power of the Smart Health Pilot as a platform connecting regions, researchers, healthcare organisations and innovation stakeholders to accelerate the uptake of Personalised Medicine, and strengthen Europeaninterregional health innovation ecosystems.
The Smart Health Community will gather again on 22 and 23 September 2026 in Thuringia, Germany, for a collaborative meeting with the Medical Technologies S3 Partnership.
Interested in the Smart Health Pilot ? Contact Melissa Campagno (mcampagno@grou-gac.com) and Arnaud Ménial (amenial@group-gac.com).