At the 2025 DHAGE high-level meeting, hosted during the HIMSS25 Europe Conference in Paris, European health leaders, ministries of health, international organisations and policymakers came together to address two of the most pressing priorities for the future of healthcare: strengthening cybersecurity and accelerating the integration of artificial intelligence.

Discussions emphasized the urgency of building cyber resilience across healthcare systems. Participants examined real-world cyber threat case studies and regulatory compliance measures, with a spotlight on the European Commission’s new Action Plan on the Cybersecurity of Hospitals and Healthcare Providers. National examples such as France’s CARE Programme and the Netherlands’ national model illustrated complementary approaches to enhancing preparedness, governance and operational security. Experts recommended that cybersecurity must become a shared responsibility embedded into the culture of healthcare.

Artificial intelligence was the second pillar of the meeting, with attention focused on both the opportunities and barriers to adoption. National experiences from Finland, Portugal, and France, alongside insights from the European Commission and the OECD, emphasized the importance of cohesive regulation, investment strategies and governance frameworks. The dialogue highlighted the need to reform procurement pathways, support secondary uses of health data, foster cross-border collaboration and establish scalable, trustworthy AI infrastructures.

The meeting concluded with eight targeted recommendations designed to advance both cybersecurity and responsible AI deployment in European healthcare:

Addressing Cyber Challenges

1. A cultural shift in healthcare is essential: cybersecurity must become everyone’s responsibility. This should be reinforced through comprehensive training, including EU-wide simulation exercises.
2. Investments in infrastructure—both hardware and software—are critical to support resilient, secure health data exchanges, including the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS).
3. National governments and the EU must develop and implement cybersecurity strategies, supported by governance frameworks and sufficient resources. A funding target of 10% of the digital health budget should be considered for building and maintaining cybersecurity.
4. The European Commission should implement the European Action Plan on Cybersecurity of Hospitals and Healthcare Providers ambitiously, promoting EU-wide cooperation and ensuring adequate resource allocation as part of broader European defence efforts.

Making AI Work in Healthcare

1. Governments, in coordination with the EU institutions, should fast-track the deployment of AI in healthcare by establishing clear, scalable procurement pathways and dedicated investment instruments.
2. Data governance should be implemented as an integral part of the AI-related policies. Recognising data as a strategic enabler, robust governance frameworks are essential to building legal, ethical, and operational trust—and to realise the full potential of AI in European healthcare.
3. The European Union and national governments should invest in the continuous development and improvement of pipelines for AI technologies to support both the technical and social robustness, as well as the scalability, of AI systems.
4. The European Union, with support from the OECD and the WHO, should adopt and monitor a core set of EU-wide indicators for assessing the impact, quality, and safety of AI solutions.

The DHAGE 2025 meeting reaffirmed that resilience and innovation are deeply interconnected. By aligning cybersecurity and artificial intelligence strategies, European healthcare systems can better prepare for future challenges while ensuring trust, safety and competitiveness.

To explore the full set of insights and recommendations from the DHAGE 2025 meeting, read the complete report and watch the HIMSS TV interview with Tapani Piha, Special Adviser, Digital Health Advisory Group for Europe and Cátia Sousa Pinto, Head for Global Digital Health and International Affairs, Shared Services in Ministry of Health, SPMS, EPE, Portugal.