COCIR welcomes the Digital Agenda and its strategic vision on eHealth. The Digital Agenda is an EU flagship initiative adopted in May 2010 which aims to build a sustainable digital society in Europe by 2020. It recognises the importance of eHealth and will work on creating conditions in Europe which will contribute to the use of eHealth solutions, such as bringing broadband internet to all citizens. The Digital Agenda strategy specifically covers eHealth in the section on ‘Using ICT to face societal challenges’ which outlines how “eHealth technologies can improve the quality of care, reduce medical costs and foster independent living” and identifies conditions for a successful deployment including the protection of personal data, removing legal barriers, interoperability and cooperation between Member States.
The strategy outlines pilot initiatives as well as promoting EU-wide standards, interoperability testing and certification of eHealth systems by 2015 through stakeholder dialogue. On data protection and ICT standardisation too, the Digital Agenda has something to contribute to the debate with a proposed review of the EU data protection regulatory framework by the end of 2010.