THCS

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THCS SRIA (2023)

The THCS SRIA (2023) outlines a coordinated European effort to transform health and care systems into sustainable, resilient, and people-centred structures. It emphasizes digitalisation, interoperability, integrated care models, and evidence-based policymaking as key enablers for transformation.

For OPENVERSE, THCS represents a strategic collaboration target for applying immersive, interoperable, and simulation-based technologies to health ecosystems. Joint work could advance digital twins for health systems, ethics-by-design governance, and data-driven interoperability across the digital health landscape.

Basic Identification

Initiative / Partnership Name: Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS)

Full SRIDA Title & Version: Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), February 2023

Publication / Last Update Date: February 2023

Governing Body / Association: THCS Coordination and Support Action consortium; co-funded European Partnership under Horizon Europe Cluster 1.

Type: Co-funded Partnership (public-public, focusing on health system transformation).

Website / Source: https://www.thcspartnership.eu

Strategic Orientation

Vision Statement:

To accelerate the transformation of European health and care systems towards resilience, sustainability, and person-centredness by coordinating research, innovation, and implementation efforts across Member States.

Core Mission / Objectives:

1. Develop and implement evidence-based, sustainable models of health and care delivery.
2. Support integrated care that is proactive, data-driven, and equitable.
3. Strengthen the resilience of health systems against shocks (e.g. pandemics, demographic changes).
4. Enable digital and organisational innovation in healthcare through policy alignment and systemic experimentation.

Key Strategic Pillars / Focus Areas:

• People-centred Care Transformation – integration of preventive, primary, and long-term care.
• Health System Resilience and Sustainability – governance, workforce, and financial models.
• Digital Health & Data-Driven Transformation – data spaces, AI, and interoperability.
• Evidence-based Policymaking – cross-national evaluation and learning mechanisms.

Expected Outcomes / KPIs:

• 20+ cross-country projects co-funded by 2030.
• New evaluation frameworks for health innovation adoption.
• Increased implementation of interoperable digital solutions across Member States.

Policy Alignment:

• Horizon Europe Cluster 1 (Health)
• European Health Data Space (EHDS)
• EU4Health Programme
• Digital Europe Programme

Technological and Thematic Priorities

Theme	Focus Areas	Examples / Expected Results
Digital Transformation of Health Systems	Adoption of interoperable, AI-supported digital solutions for care pathways.	Development of secure data-sharing infrastructures.
Integrated Care Models	Patient-centred design integrating public health, primary care, and social care.	Cross-border testbeds for continuity of care.
Health Data Spaces & Interoperability	FAIR data principles, data linkage across health domains, and semantic interoperability.	Support to EHDS and secondary data use.
Workforce & Skills Transformation	Upskilling healthcare professionals for digital and integrated care.	Cross-country training programmes.
Sustainability and Governance	Value-based healthcare, financial sustainability, and ethical data use.	Policy experiments and scaling of best practices.

Cross-cutting Topics: ethics and trust in health data, citizen engagement, gender equality, social innovation, and sustainability.

Related Infrastructures / Platforms: European Health Data Space, EDIHs, EIT Health, IHI JU, and AI4HealthEU.

Interdependencies / Synergies: Strong complementarities with IHI JU (innovation uptake), ADRA (AI & data), and EOSC (data sharing and FAIR principles).

Governance & Ecosystem

Leading Organisations / Associations: THCS Partnership Coordination (CNR, Italy, and ISCIII, Spain) and 50+ national and regional funding agencies.

Stakeholder Groups: national and regional health authorities, research institutions, healthcare providers, policy makers, patients, and citizens.

Engagement Mechanisms:

• Open calls and joint transnational funding calls.
• Thematic workshops and policy dialogues.
• Stakeholder consultations on SRIA updates.

Update Frequency: Biannual review and alignment with Work Programme priorities.

Contact / Participation Info: Public calls and events published via thcspartnership.eu.

Alignment with Virtual Worlds

Relevance to Virtual Worlds Domains:

The THCS SRIA provides a policy and systemic perspective on digital transformation, highly relevant for OPENVERSE’s goal of federating trustworthy, interoperable, human-centric virtual infrastructures.

Key Points of Alignment:

• Human-centric digital ecosystems: Mirrors OPENVERSE’s focus on trust, ethics, and inclusion.
• Data interoperability: Direct alignment with OPENVERSE’s technical and semantic interoperability building blocks.
• Digital twins and simulation for policy: Health system modelling and scenario-based simulations overlap with OPENVERSE’s virtual twin logic.

SRIDA Document Metadata

Keywords / Tags: health systems, resilience, interoperability, digital transformation, integrated care, sustainability, AI, data spaces.

Referenced Horizon Europe Clusters: Cluster 1 (Health) and Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry & Space).

TRL Range: Typically TRL 4–7 (implementation-oriented).

Budget or Investment Priorities: €300+ million co-funding through Horizon Europe and Member States for 2023–2030.

Policy References:

• European Health Data Space,
• Digital Europe Programme,
• EU4Health Programme,
• The European Green Deal.