On 20 March 2026, Rafał Bartczuk and Stefan Marynowicz – representatives of the Paediatric Regional Centre for Digital Medicine operated in CMHI (PeRCMC) — took part in the PHEMS Business Hackathon 2026, an event that brought together representatives from leading European paediatric hospitals, data experts, clinicians, researchers, technology partners, and specialists in ethics and governance. The aim of the meeting was to jointly develop the direction of the Paediatric Health Data Space (PHDS) — a secure, interoperable and federated medical data space for paediatrics in Europe, where interoperability refers to the ability to exchange and share data between different entities, and federated, refers to the Federated Learning model, in which data remains at its point of origin but can be securely used for joint analyses.
Participants worked in parallel across three thematic areas:
- Benchmarking & Clinical Performance Services
- Data Services for Scientific Research
- Industry-facing services & monetisation models
Each of these areas focused on practical, real-world solutions — from defining the value of services and user needs, through identifying legal and organisational barriers, to funding models that will enable PHDS to operate in a sustainable and transparent manner.
We worked using the PHDS Business Model Canvas, which enabled dynamic, interdisciplinary collaboration and a rapid transition from ideas to concrete objectives.
The day concluded with an awards ceremony recognizing the outstanding contributions of participants:
- Best Canvas: Track 3 Jasmine Kincaide
- Best Speaker: Antonio Urda Martínez Aedo
- Best Idea: Rafał Bartczuk (PeRCMC)
It was an intensive and inspiring co-creation session with an international group — we are delighted to have represented the “Children’s Memorial Health Institute” and to have contributed to building the future of European paediatric data. We returned from Barcelona full of energy, new perspectives and best practices to put into action here at home.
We would like to thank the organisers and all participants for the great atmosphere, the exchange of knowledge and the joint reflection on how data technologies can tangibly support children’s health across Europe.
