On 14 May 2025, the European Policy Centre hosted a 2-hour session title ‘AI in Health: Navigating the Future of European Healthcare’ in Brussels.
The event brought together a diverse panel of experts representing key sectors - regulatory, policy, industry, academia. The discussions touched on both the opportunities and the challenges related to the rapidly changing digital health landscape. Central to the discussions were the need for trust, data governance, strategic alignment, and interdisciplinary collaboration. All considered as pillars of the EU's vision for responsible and strong, competitive healthcare innovation, the event relates closely to the ongoing discussions in the field of in silico medicine.
Two key legislative initiatives underpinned the discussions: the AI Act and the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Both frameworks were not only presented as regulatory necessities but also as foundational tools for building trust, addressing data bias, and enabling equitable innovation across the EU, highlighting the social implications that were addressed.
The discussions resonated directly with the ambitions in the field of in silico medicine and the vision for the Virtual Human Twin, which was also addressed by one of the speakers. The call to action is clear: there is a need to build coherent and navigable frameworks, strengthen AI literacy among healthcare professionals, and foster more trust by investing in transparency, stakeholder inclusion, and societal alignment.
As one speaker aptly put it to conclude: “The future is ours to shape.” Now is the time to ensure that vision includes trustworthy in silico infrastructures that serve both science and society. Yet, for this future to materialize, Europe must lead ethically, responsibly, and strategically, aligning regulation with innovation and embedding health AI in its broader industrial and competitiveness strategies.
More information on the event can be found on https://www.epc.eu/video/ywIrq3co4hc/
