The work on digital health interoperability is heating up, with multiple projects and initiatives paving the way for the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and the first EHDS landmark in early 2027, when some EHDS obligations enter into force and the first implementing acts are published.

To keep the whole community moving in step with this, HL7 Europe is introducing a new format: the HL7 Europe Townhall.

A townhall is an open, community-wide meeting borrowed from the old idea of a town gathering where everyone in the community could come together, hear what mattered, and speak up. In that spirit, the HL7 Europe Townhall is a regular online meeting where HL7 European affiliates and the wider HL7 Europe community meet to shed light on key initiatives, share organisational news and updates, and put questions directly to the people driving the work. It is not a lecture and not a closed board session. It is a shared space, open to everyone in the community, with room for discussion and Q&A, all packed into one hour.

The first, inaugural Townhall will focus on the two upcoming major events and introduce the HL7 Europe volunteer programme. The agenda:

• The Townhall / Community News / Volunteer Programme
  Catherine Chronaki
• The HL7 Europe Working Group Meeting in Málaga, Spain, 16-20 November
  Kai Heitmann, Giorgio Cangioli, Patrick Werner
• The Hospitals on FHIR User Days, 19-21 October
  Stefano Dalmiani
• Q&A

See also the presentation slides here.

The webinar will be facilitated by Michael Strübin from HL7 Europe.

Aus Anlass der Jahrestagung der HL7 Austria und der DICOM Austria im März 2026 führte unser Geschäftsführer ein Interview mit Christof Geßner, langjähriges Vorstandsmitglied von HL7 Deutschland und seit einigen Jahren auch Patient. Unser Der HL7 Deutschland VLOG beleuchtet die Notwendigkeit einer ePA im Allgemeinen und der "ePA für alle" im besonderen aus der Sicht eines Patienten.

Für "Leseratten" haben wir das Ganze auch als BLOG in unserem HL7 Magazin aufbereitet

Digital health technologies need data, and lots of it: to move from idea to innovation, for development, training, testing and validation. Data must meet quality criteria, be realistic and comprehensive, yet it cannot violate the privacy of patients and real people. The revolution of AI-powered technologies and the transformative push of the EHDS will dramatically increase the hunger for data. A possible answer: synthetic data that is plausible, amalgamated from several sources and generated at scale, with judicious use of AI but curated by humans.

This webinar will introduce the audience to the SYNDERAI ("Synthetic Data Examples – Realistic – using AI"), a set of data examples for testing and validation, for use in education and implementation support for vendors. Speakers will discuss how SYNDERAI came about, how you can access SYNDERAI datasets and benefit, and go over a number of practical aspects and use cases.

The line-up includes:

• SYNDERAI: from idea to real impact – Kai Heitmann, HL7 Europe, xShare project
• Synthetic data for cancer research: the Phoenix Initiative – Thomas Debertshäuser, Charité
• Demonstration of EHDS example dataset visualization – Andries Hamster, Founda Health

See also the presentation slides here.

The webinar will be facilitated by Michael Strübin from HL7 Europe. There will be time for Q&A.

The HL7 International Working Group Meeting in Rotterdam 16-22 May 2026 is rapidly approaching, one of three WGMs organised by HL7 International and the only one in Europe this year, co-hosted by HL7 Netherlands. These gatherings bring together a diverse community of experts, stakeholders and thought leaders to advance standards like HL7 V2, CDA and FHIR. Attendees collaborate on refining specifications, addressing challenges and shaping the future of healthcare data exchange through interactive sessions, work group meetings, and collaborative discussions.

HL7 Europe will be organising and co-hosting the EHDS track, focused on the growing HL7 Europe FHIR Implementation Guides ecosystem that support the implementation of the European health Data Space regulation. This webinar will deliver an update of the WGM, and kick off the collaboration on the EHDS track.

The Implementation Guides covered include those for Hospital Discharge Reports, ePrescription and eDispense, Laboratory Reports, Patient Summaries (EPS and IPS), Imaging Reports, and Health Data APIs. Speakers will include Rutt Lindström, Giorgio Cangioli, Rob Hausam, Josh Priebe, Patrick Werner and Kai Heitmann, Michael Strübin will facilitate. There will be plenty of time for Q&A.

See the presentation slides here.