Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Seville

On January 27 and 28, 2025, the official kick-off meeting of the INDICATE project took place at Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío in Seville. This event brought together experts and project partners from 20 hospitals and 36 organizations in total to discuss the objectives and plans for the project.

The two-day meeting started on Monday 27 January with a welcome speech from the project coordinators, Prof. Dr. Christian Jung and Dr. Michel van Genderen. They provided an overview of the project’s goals and its current status. Next, the Dean of the Servicio Andaluz de Salud presented insights on the role of Artificial Intelligence in Seville.

In the afternoon, an EU project officer gave a presentation on the European perspective, discussing funding opportunities and collaboration agreements between the consortium and the European Commission. After a short break, Maxim Moinat (Erasmus MC) introduced the OMOP Common Data Model, followed by Jan van den Brand (Erasmus MC), who gave a presentation on data architecture.

The day concluded with presentations from the first work packages, a summary of the discussions, and preparations for Day 2. Attendees also had the opportunity to tour the hospital. In the evening, participants enjoyed a guided city tour and an informal dinner at restaurant Rio Grande.

Highlights from Day 1 include:

• Opening remarks by Christian Jung and Michel van Genderen, our project coordinators
• Inspiring welcome by the Dean of the Servicio Andaluz de Salud – Dr. Cristina Suárez Mejías – Strategic Cabinet – Responsible for the Andalusian Health Service, on behalf of Mr. Ismael Vargas Pina – General Director for Information Systems and Communications
• Followed by insightful presentations by the ICU department head Rosario Amaya Villar followed by EU officer Alina Lupu who nicely explained the importance of the Indicate project and the potential of Virtual Human Twins in Europe
• Maxim Moinat (Erasmus MC OMOP Common Data Model expert) shared his data standardization insights
• And the European data space architecture was explained by Jan van den Brand –  underscored by his quote: “People should have control over their health data” and “Data must be protected while enabling lawful access.”

The second day Tuesday, January 28, 2025, began with a short introduction by the project coordinators, followed by presentations on various work packages, covering topics such as governance and business models, technical infrastructure, and dissemination, exploitation, and communication.

After a coffee break, clinical demonstrations were discussed, including use cases such as MIMIC-EU, early detection of organ failure, and prediction of neonatal and pediatric sepsis.

The meeting provided a valuable opportunity for partners to exchange knowledge, discuss plans, and establish a strong foundation for successful collaboration within the INDICATE project.

Read the full programme here.

INDICATE Official Kick-Off Meeting

Program Monday, January 27^th  

12.00 – 13.00 CET	Arrival and Networking lunch Informal lunch to welcome participants and encourage networking
13.00 – 13.05	Welcome to the official Kick-off Meeting of INDICATE Welcome by the project coordinators: Prof. dr. Christian Jung and dr. Michel van Genderen Prof. dr Christian Jung Head, Coronary Heart Disease and Critical Care division  Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf  Dr. Michel van Genderen Internist-Intensivist Erasmus MC
13.05 – 13.30	Welcome in Sevilla Introduction about Servicio Andaluz de Salud, AI in Sevilla Welcome by the Dean of the Servicio Andaluz de Salud: Mr. Ismael Vargas Pina – General Director for Information Systems and Communications The dean will be accompanied by Dr. Rosario Amaya Villar, Head of the Intensive Care Unit, and Mr. Carlos Luis Parra Calderon, Head of the Technological Innovation at the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital.
13.30 – 14.00	Short Deep Dive into INDICATE – Current status Prof.dr. Christian Jung and dr. Michel van Genderen Overview of the project objectives, updates about current processes etc. Prof. dr Christian Jung Head, Coronary Heart Disease and Critical Care division  Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf  Dr. Michel van Genderen Internist-Intensivist Erasmus MC
14.00 – 14.30	INDICATE – The European Union Perspective Project officer of the EU Funding schemes – Where to fit in INDICATE Working arrangements between the consortium and the EC Q&A
14.30 – 15.00	Break with Tea & Coffee
15.00 – 15.30	OMOP common data model (CDM) for dummies (20min – 10min Q) Explanation of the concept of Common Data Models, its objectives and benefits for standardizing healthcare data, and its significance for INDICATE.        Maxim Moinat Medical Informatics Erasmus MC
15.30 – 16.00	Data space architecture (20min 10 Q) An introduction on a data space architecture and how we are progressing toward its implementation within INDICATE.   Jan van den Brand Datahub Erasmus MC
16.00 – 16.30	Work Package Presentations – Session 1 WP1: Project management and coordination (5 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A) (Erasmusmc) WP2: Common data models and vocabularies (15 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A) (SAS)
16.30 – 16.45	Wrap-Up of Day 1 Summary and preparation for Day 2.
16.45 – 17.45	Hospital Tour for all + Group picture Mr. Carlos Luis Parra Calderon, Head of Technological Innovation at the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital – Including a short presentation about the hospital.
17.45	Walk from the hospital to the hotel
18.30	Meet in the lobby to take the bus to the evening activity (guided city tour) – followed by informal dinner (funded by central INDICATE budget)

Evening program

Program Tuesday, January 28^th

08.15 – 08.30	Meet in lobby, walk from the hotel to the hospital
08.30 – 09.00	Walk-in and Coffee & Tea
09.00 – 09.05	Welcome and Introduction of the Day Prof. dr. Christian Jung and dr. Michel van Genderen Prof. dr Christian Jung Head, Coronary Heart Disease and Critical Care division  Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf  Dr. Michel van Genderen Internist-Intensivist Erasmus MC
09.05 – 10.30	Work Package Presentations: Session 2 WP3: Governance and business models (15 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A) (TCD) WP5: Dissemination, exploitation and communication (15 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A) (HSICM) WP4: Design and implementation of the technical infrastructure (Update and demonstration: 40 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A) (UGENT)
10.30 – 11.00	Coffee Break
11.00 – 12.00	Work Package Presentations: Session 3 WP6: Clinical demonstrations (25 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A) (Dusseldorf) Use case 1: MIMIC-EU (Dusseldorf) Use case 2: Early detection of organ failure (AP-HP) Use case 3: Virtual digital twin of mechanical ventilation (VUMC) Use case 4: Prediction of neonatal and pediatric sepsis (Erasmus MC) Use case 5: Quality benchmarking dashboards (Greifswald) Use case 6: Grand rounds workspace (TCD)
12.00 – 12.30	General discussion on WP challenges and next steps
12.30	Lunch
13.30 – 14.30	Breakout Sessions: Deep Dive into Challenges and Opportunities Small groups focusing on specific project themes (e.g., governance, data management, dissemination, etc.).
14.30 – 15.00	Coffee Break
15.00 – 16.00	Plenary: Breakout Session Feedback Each group reports back, followed by discussion on action points.
16.00 – 16.15	Next Steps – Summary of key outcomes & action points
16.15 – 17.30	Inspirational talks by invited speakers including Closing remarks by the Project Coordinators
17.30	ICU – presentation & Visit (possible for max 10 people) Dr. Rosario Amaya Villar, Head of the Intensive Care Unit at the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital
18.00	Walk from the hospital to the hotel
18.30	Pick up by taxi – Celebratory Kick-off Dinner (self-funded by institute INDICATE budget) payment details in the registration form) – Casa Ozama Avenida Borbolla, 57-59, Cornering Calle Felipe II In front of Maria Luisa park Seville (Spain)

The 7th Critical Care Datathon, held from January 10 till February 7, is the place where multidisciplinary teams and international experts collaborate to explore clinical questions using large datasets from electronic health records. Participants also have the opportunity to enhance their data knowledge, discover new methods to address clinical questions, and build connections! 

The datathon is open to all intensive care professionals (experienced or new) and open to all data scientists and machine learning professionals (seasoned or beginner). This is your chance to compete in global mixed teams to advance intensive care medicine! Together with your team members you will work on one of three real world challenges related to intensive care medicine using AmsterdamUMCdb (in OMOP format), the first freely available European ICU database. Collaboration, learning and fun are key ingredients.

This edition will be held online from January 10 till January 31, and the top three teams will be invited to present their work at the Grand Finale during the Intensive Care Innovation Forum on February 7, in Milan.

Register yourself and your team for the datathon (or read more about the programme) right here!

Dear all,

We are excited to share some fantastic news with you all – we are proud to announce that INDICATE has officially launched this week!

INDICATE aims to tackle key challenges faced by European Intensive Care Units (ICUs) that hinder progress in data-enabled clinical decision-making and data-driven innovations like Artificial Intelligence (AI). Although ICUs operate in data-rich environments, individual ICU datasets are often limited in size, and the absence of standardized, secure mechanisms for cross-border data sharing restricts AI’s transformative potential in healthcare. To address this, INDICATE seeks to develop a federated infrastructure for ICU data, facilitating secure, cross-border access to large-scale, diverse datasets.

We look forward to the success and growth of INDICATE and to sharing this exciting adventure with all of you!

Best regards,

The INDICATE Team,

Christian Jung

Michel van Genderen

Netherlands, Rotterdam – December 2 – Today marks the launch of the INDICATE project, a pioneering European initiative designed to enhance data access and sharing between intensive care units across Europe. INDICATE aims to advance patient-centered care and promoting ethically responsible data use and the development and implementation of trustworthy AI models. In the coming years, INDICATE will collaborate with organizations across the European healthcare sector to improve patient outcomes and foster a data-driven approach to healthcare.

At present, clinical decision-making and innovation in ICUs face significant challenges due to fragmented data, the lack of standardized data-sharing agreements, and insufficient secure infrastructure. These barriers became glaringly evident during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic when even basic questions, such as “How many patients requiring ventilatory support are admitted to ICUs?” were difficult to answer. This halts the development and implementation of AI models that are inclusive and diverse and have the possibility to improve patient targeted medicine. INDICATE seeks to overcome these challenges and ensure that critical healthcare data can be ethically and responsibly utilized.

INDICATE aims to address these problems by establishing a secure federated infrastructure for standardized Intensive Care data. Federated means that software to analyze data or train AI is taken to the data at the intensive care unit instead of taking the data to the people who do the analysis. This way data of patients will never leave the hospital and people who use the data never get to see the actual health data, but only the results they need. The federated approach is secure and promotes patient privacy by design. Importantly, INDICATE partners are spread across Europe to ensure that the available data reflects the diversity of patients in Europe in the short term, but also in the longer term when the network is meant to grow. This way INDICATE will form the foundation for training and operationalizing of AI model in intensive care units to support applications in personalized medicine, data comparison between ICUs, and disaster preparedness. For example, INDICATE will facilitate the development of an AI model to predict bacterial bloodstream infection in newborn infants will be developed to improve earlier recognition of this disease.

Dr. Michel van Genderen, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, coordinator of INDICATE:

“With INDICATE, we are building cross-border collaboration in healthcare, where data can truly make a difference in critical patient situations. We are setting a new standard in healthcare: secure data access and ethically responsible AI development and implementation as the norm. This paves the way for every ICU to benefit from the transformative power of AI and data-driven decision-making.”

Prof. Dr. Christian Jung, University Hospital of Düsseldorf, Germany, co-coordinator of INDICATE:

“By linking data from many Intensive Care units across Europe, we help doctors make better decisions and contribute to a more resilient European healthcare system.”

For more information: https://indicate-europe.eu