LACUS
The LACUS project stems from the concrete need to create a national health data infrastructure—a public-private partnership that is secure, ethical, and interoperable.
About
It focuses on unlocking the value of secondary data use for research, planning, and innovation. Its name evokes a shared "space," a data platform that aggregates clinical information flows (from hospitals, laboratories, other providers, and insurers), ensuring a longitudinal and integrated view of the citizen's journey.
Conceived in 2019, LACUS anticipated the evolution of European policies in this field, particularly the development of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). It directly addresses specific challenges identified by national stakeholders, ranging from public entities to industry and academic partners.
The funding opportunity secured by the Health from Portugal Mobilizing Agenda, under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) - enabled the operationalization of the project's technological infrastructure, with an initial execution phase running between 2022 and 2026.
LACUS aims to guarantee the complete health data management cycle, from collection to analysis and reuse, with a specific focus on data quality and interoperability. The project’s main objectives include:
Building a digital platform that enables the secure integration and availability of health data from multiple providers, ensuring the continuity and coherence of the patient journey;
Testing and validating use cases with real clinical and economic impact, such as diabetes mellitus and breast cancer;
Promoting the progressive onboarding of new data providers and users through a shared, scalable, and sustainable governance model;
Ensuring legal compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and EHDS regulations by defining guidelines, robust security mechanisms, re-identification controls, and the continuous implementation of Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA).