Digital transformation for national health institutes & first responders

PANDEM-2 is a European Commission funded R&D initiative under Horizon 2020, focused on strengthening EU-wide pandemic preparedness and response through new concepts, training, and interoperable IT systems.

The goal was practical: bring 10+ data sources across the EU into a unified dashboard that national health institutes and first responders could use together. Instead of repeatedly gathering information from separate systems, users could work from a shared view, with less manual preparation and less time spent switching between sources.

The platform was designed for use by countries across the EU, with configurable views for different national needs. Simulation was a core part of preparedness: bringing model outputs into the dashboard helped teams explore scenarios and use a shared workspace for training exercises, alongside real-world information.

The dashboard’s indicators help turn connected data into measures people can use. For a business, the equivalent is a shared view of key performance indicators (KPIs): order turnaround time, cost per transaction, capacity utilisation, or service levels. The measures differ, but the goal is the same: make relevant information easier to monitor and discuss.

Watch the PANDEM-2 Indicators demo →

Connecting data helps users understand the current picture. Simulation adds a forward-looking dimension: what if conditions change, and how could we respond? Bringing simulation outputs into the same dashboard makes them part of the planning conversation for health institutes, researchers, and first responders across countries.

In a business setting, the same approach could support what-if exercises around demand, capacity, or resource allocation before changing a process. This is the connection to our AI automation work: designing decision support around the people who need to evaluate and act on the results.

Watch the PANDEM-2 Simulation Models demo →

Users did not start with clear, complete requirements. National health institutes, first responders, and research partners each brought different priorities. Through workshops and multiple iterations, we discovered what they needed to see, how they worked with information, and where a shared dashboard could save them time. Feedback on successive versions helped turn broad needs into practical requirements.

Discovery continued throughout delivery: workshops informed the next version, users reviewed it, and we refined the dashboard together. This kept the work grounded in real operational needs across institutions and countries.

In multi-country public health programmes, complexity compounds quickly: heterogeneous data, differing operational models, and multiple stakeholder agendas. The delivery challenge is not just building software — it is building a coherent operating layer that institutions can trust.

• National health institutes: RKI, RIVM, THL, and other public health bodies brought surveillance and national response needs.
• First responders: Austrian Red Cross, Italian Red Cross, and emergency response partners brought frontline preparedness and coordination needs.
• Research institutes and universities: University of Galway, Fraunhofer, and other research partners contributed scientific and modelling expertise.
• Technology and specialist partners: Clarisoft, Epiconcept, and others helped translate these needs into connected tools and delivery.

Additional partners included: University of Galway (NUI Galway) (project lead), Austrian Red Cross, Italian Red Cross, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain/CTMA), Radboudumc, Trilateral Research, Epiconcept, Pintail, and others listed on the official partners page.

Although PANDEM-2 was funded to strengthen pandemic preparedness, the programme ramp-up coincided with ongoing emergency waves across Europe. Key institutions within the consortium were actively managing:

• Real-time epidemiological monitoring
• National response coordination
• Data reporting to EU and WHO bodies
• Operational public health interventions

This created an immediate execution constraint:

• Limited availability of senior domain experts
• Slower early coordination cycles
• Compressed review windows
• Dependency risk across work packages

The programme therefore operated under a real-world constraint not present at proposal time. Despite this, delivery remained controlled, structured, and financially disciplined.

The ability to maintain execution quality under these conditions directly contributed to completing the scope under EUR 800K of the EUR 1.1M allocation.

A unified dashboard connecting data from 10+ sources, with maps, indicators, graphs, reports, and simulation views in one workspace. The aim was to reduce the effort of assembling a useful operational picture and make the same platform usable across countries and partner types.

• Requirements discovered with users: workshops and repeated feedback shaped a dashboard around the needs of different institutions.
• A shared view of connected data: bringing sources and simulation outputs together supported the goal of saving users time across countries.
• Simulation as part of planning: model outputs gave teams a way to explore possible scenarios together and inform preparedness discussions.
• Senior team composition beat initial headcount plans: fewer people, higher decision quality, faster delivery.
• Reuse as strategy — not a shortcut: we maximized proven components and built new modules only when reusable.
• Architecture reduced risk: stable interfaces and modular design lowered integration churn across partners.
• Executive governance: tight alignment between delivery reality, consortium expectations, and EC reporting discipline.

We combined user discovery, data integration, and disciplined delivery to make a complex transformation practical for the people using it, while protecting the programme budget.