This initiative was a joint effort by three projects which the Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law is affiliated with: BBMRI.at, Smart FOX and CD Laboratory for Machine Learning Driven Precision Imaging (CD Labor).
After a warm welcome to all participants (both those gathered at the Aula of the University of Vienna and those joining through the online stream) by the head of the Department Univ.-Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Forgó, the afternoon of the 27th of February’s very comprehensive programme begun with a panel discussion with respected Austrian experts from the fields of health, law, ethics and policymaking: Anita Kienesberger, Ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Herwig Ostermann, Ass.-Prof. Dr. Katharina T. Paul and Mag. Patrick Rasztovics. The invited speakers – guided in their discussion by Professor Forgó – covered topics such as Austria’s current state of readiness in implementing the EHDS and DGA, including the opportunities and challenges that these legal acts bring to the secondary use of health data for research, innovation, and public health.
After a brief coffee break, the participants gathered in three different workshops, each organised by one of the Projects involved in the event. BBMRI.at discussed Secondary Use of Data under the EHDS and Biobanking – What Is the Role and Impact of Broad Consent? The Austrian Case; Smart FOX covered Data Altruism – Secondary Use of Health Data in the Public Interest based on the example of the Austrian Health Data Donation Space; and CD Labor provided a forum for a debate on the EHDS in (university) hospitals – An interdisciplinary discussion. The BBMRI.at workshop was co-moderated by Ap. Prof. Priv.-Doz. Mag. DDr. Helmuth Haslacher, BSc BA, coordinator of the MedUni Biobank and affiliated with the Medical University of Vienna, which is also a BBMRI.at Consortium Partner. Fellow BBMRI.at colleagues Catarina Almeida, Katarzyna Barud and Klaudia Kwiatkowska from the University of Vienna joined Professor Haslacher in facilitating the workshop discussion. The CD Labor Workshop was hosted by Dipl. Ing. Philipp Seeböck, PhD (Medical University of Vienna), Michael Schmidbauer and Saskia Kaltenbrunner (both University of Vienna). The Smart FOX workshop was hosted by Mag. Karl Kreiner, Priv.-Doz. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Günter Schreier (AIT) and Anna Tauber (University of Vienna).
The outcomes of the three workshops were consolidated and discussed with all attendees again at the Aula, with the conversation then extending to a productive networking session in the early evening.
UNIVIE would like to thank the moderator Professor Forgó, panellists Ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Herwig Ostermann (Gesundheit Österreich), Ass.-Prof. Dr. Katharina T. Paul (University of Vienna), Mag. Patrick Sebastian Rasztovics (BMSGPK) and Anita Kienesberger (CCI Europe and DieAllianz).
Our sincere thanks to the coordinators of the three projects involved in this initiative – without whom the event would not be possible – as well as the UNIVIE organising team (Catarina Almeida, Katarzyna Barud, Theresa Henne, Saskia Kaltenbrunner, Klaudia Kwiatkowska, Michael Schmidbauer and Anna Tauber).
