The LifeScience4EU project, implemented under the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was centred around the organisation and execution of a high-level scientific conference (15–16 May 2025, Kraków), focused on leveraging technology to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness in life sciences. The project’s core scientific objective was to create a platform that would catalyse interdisciplinary collaboration, address regulatory and systemic challenges in health innovation, and define actionable strategies for research and development across Europe.
The project adopted a systems-thinking framework to structure the conference programme around three sequential thematic pillars: (A) defining desired outcomes in European healthcare innovation, (B) identifying success metrics and barriers, and (C) proposing actions for closing the gap between the current state and future vision. This methodology ensured coherence, depth, and forward-looking orientation in the discussions.
Key technical and scientific components included:
- Pre-conference knowledge capture: workshops involving 50+ stakeholders from across academia, industry, and regulatory fields helped frame the agenda by surfacing critical issues and challenges to be tackled during the main event.
- Expert-driven programme: The conference featured over 35 international experts and high-level EU/national officials participating in keynote lectures, expert panels, and fireside chats. These sessions covered: AI and digital health, biotechnology integration, HTA harmonisation, KPIs for innovation impact, and personalised care models.
- Evidence-based agenda building: Topics were aligned with active R&D projects (e.g. EDITH, Digital Health Europe, Innovative Health Initiative) and linked to strategic EU policy frameworks (Horizon Europe, EU4Health, EHDS), ensuring technical and scientific relevance.
- Multistakeholder innovation ecosystem: Over 300 stakeholders representing research, industry, public health authorities, and patient groups were brought together to share perspectives, generate recommendations, and explore future-oriented health innovation pathways.
- Knowledge openness and reuse: The conference promoted Open Science by publishing its proceedings, recordings, and post-event materials on the LSOS platform. Key findings were synthesised into an openly accessible post-conference report.
