The Digital Health Advisory Group for Europe has announced its theme for the 8th annual High-Level Meeting at HIMSS26 Europe in Copenhagen: Navigating Transformation Under Pressure: Mind the Gaps.

Convened by HIMSS in collaboration with the Finnish Ministry for Social Affairs and Health and Shared Services of the Ministry of Health, Portugal, DHAGE brings together senior health policymakers, European institutions and international organisations to address shared challenges in digital health transformation.

The 2026 meeting will focus on the increasing pressure facing health systems as they work to advance digital transformation within complex policy, economic and geopolitical environments. Discussions will center on identifying and addressing the systemic barriers that continue to slow progress across Europe.

This year’s meeting will apply a structured gap analysis to examine the underlying issues limiting the scale and impact of digital health initiatives. The goal is to move beyond identifying challenges and toward developing actionable outcomes, including policy recommendations, practical tools and clearer implementation pathways.

DHAGE members identified a shortlist of key system-level gaps to guide the 2026 discussion. These include preparation for geopolitical and systemic shocks, readiness for the European Health Data Space and AI-enabled transformation, data exchange and interoperability challenges, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, AI governance and trust frameworks, workforce skills gaps, economic justification for digital investment, supplier compliance and market dynamics, and the ongoing challenge of scaling innovation.

In addition to technical and regulatory considerations, the meeting will explore how governance, workforce and market factors intersect to influence health system performance. Participants will examine what sustains these gaps, what actions are required to address them and how progress can be measured at both national and European levels.

Outcomes from the DHAGE High-Level Meeting will be shared during a public DHAGE Open Session at HIMSS26 Europe on 20 May. The session will present key findings from the gap analysis, along with the emerging DHAGE Action Map, outlining potential policy actions and areas of responsibility.

Insights from DHAGE 2025 meeting, featuring Tapani Piha and Cátia Sousa Pinto, are available in a recent HIMSS TV interview, which reflects on the group’s strategic direction and highlights outcomes from the 2025 High-Level Meeting.