The 2026 HIMSS European Conference & Exhibition will feature an educational programme that spotlights practical use cases and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, with expanded focus on community and primary care, the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, and how healthcare system planning must adapt to an evolving climate-health dynamic. 

Registration is open for HIMSS26 Europe, slated for 19-21 May, 2026 in Copenhagen.

HIMSS26 Europe will also feature speakers from more than 25 countries, including South Africa, Hong Kong, India, Egypt, Canada, and the UAE, reinforcing the HIMSS global perspective on digital health transformation.

AI will anchor keynote sessions throughout the conference. The opening keynote session What Kind of Future Do We Want to Shape? will feature award-winning journalist Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI and co-host of the BBC podcast The Interface, examining how AI systems are built, governed and deployed. 

The keynote Staying Competitive in the AI Race will feature a panel with representatives of global tech giants like AWS, Microsoft and IBM and Global Chief Medical Officer and Director, Healthcare and Life Sciences at AWS Rowland Illing, Chief Health Officer at IBM Mark Davies and Global Business Leader for Healthcare Pharma Life Sciences Elena Bonfiglioli.

Programme content will be organised across the Intelligence, Implementation, and Transformation stages, covering women’s health, equity and inclusion, mental health, EU policy, AI safety and deployment, leadership and digital innovation. Featured speakers include Mark Helbert, CMIO of ZAS in Belgium; Amar Shah, National Clinical Director for Improvement at NHS England; Marie Paldam Folker, Managing Director of Centre for Digital Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, Region of Southern Denmark; and Maaike Steinebach, Founder and CEO of Femtech Future Limited.

As EU member states prepare to establish regulatory AI sandboxes, sessions will feature perspectives from Malene Fischer, Deputy Chief Executive of Rigshospitalet, Copenhegen University Hospital, and Jonas Marcello, Senior Policy Advisor, Division 511 “New technologies, secondary data use and ethics in healthcare” at the German Federal Ministry of health, alongside a global governance outlook led by Peiling Yap, Chief Scientist at HealthAI - The Global Agency for Responsible AI in Healthcare. The programme is being shaped with help from HIMSS Communities, including Nordic, Middle East, DACH, Iberian, Italian, Virtual Care and UK & Ireland communities.