• Explore the Dataset Catalogue: Search and display the Dataset Catalogue, which follows the first release of the Health DCAT-AP standard.
• Data Permit Applications: Manage Data Access applications by displaying, completing, modifying, and submitting forms.

Future updates will expand the HealthData@EU Central Platform and Infrastructure features. These updates will be implemented in collaboration with the DG SANTE Business Owner (Digital Health Unit), member states participating in the Second Joint Action Towards the European Health Data Space (TEHDAS2), and the HealthData@EU Community of Practice. These updates will be rolled out once finalized.

• User Identification and Authentication: Users can now log in using their EU login credentials, ensuring secure and clear identification.
• User Authorization: A new feature allows the creation of different user roles, with easy tools to manage and update user access.
• Data Permit Application Status: The system now supports better tracking and management of application statuses between Contact Points and the Dataset Catalogue.
• Health DCAT-AP Validation according to the constraint file: This service checks that all incoming datasets meet the Health DCAT-AP standard, ensuring consistency and accuracy.

• Updated cross-border gateway (eDelivery): The revised solution for HealthData@EU Infrastructure based on the eDelivery AS4 can now be used by both the Central Platform and all Contact Points to establish trusted and secure connections.
• Data Request Application Management: Users can display, complete, modify, and submit Data Request applications through an improved user interface.
• Data Application Export: Users can export applications in a human-readable format for offline review or sharing.
• Application Status History: Users can view the history of actions taken on their applications for better tracking and transparency.
• Improved Navigation: Users can consult detailed descriptions of preliminary version of HealthDCAT-AP elements, improving navigation and search functionality within the Dataset Catalogue.

Release 4 includes several new features to enhance the HealthData@EU Central Platform and Infrastructure:

• Multilingual User Interface: The platform is now available in all official EU languages, as well as Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk) and Icelandic. This applies to all static interface elements (excluding metadata content).
• Data Permit Decision: Users can observe the proposal for the Application details and Data Permit feature and provide comments directly for future implementation.
• New Documentation Page: A dedicated section now provides guidance and information on regulatory compliance, platform functionalities, onboarding for new users, open-source resources, and other helpful links for the community.
• Administration Panel (Back-Office): Users with administrator rights can now access real-time audit logs, user and dataset catalogue management tools through a dedicated panel.
• Back-End Self-Testing: The system now includes self-testing capabilities, making deployments more robust and reducing the risk of regression.
• Autonomous Testing for Member States: Development teams from Member States can use an intuitive testing platform integrated in the Interoperability Test Bed. It supports onboarding, connectivity and functional testing with full conformance to the platform’s messaging standards.
• Enhanced Security and Quality Assurance: This release includes an updated user interface, regular vulnerability mitigation, and a clean Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) to ensure traceability and transparency.

This release is open for community testing and feedback. Users and Member States representatives are warmly invited to explore the new features, test the multilingual interface, interact with the Data Permit prototype, and consult the new documentation. Your input is essential to refine and finalize future developments. 

Release 5 includes several new features to enhance the HealthData@EU Central Platform and Infrastructure:

• Fresh look powered by Content Management System: The static parts of the platform are running on Drupal, which enables quick and easy content management through a dedicated back-office panel.
• New Data Request Decision: Users can observe the proposal for the Application details and Data Request feature and provide comments directly for future implementation.
• Updated Dataset details page: The page layout has been optimised to make it easier to navigate, locate and understand metadata describing health-related datasets.
• Variable-Level Data Access: In support of the data minimisation principle, users can now request access to specific dataset variables rather than entire datasets. if made available by the data holder the variables are displayed in the dataset details page
• Updated Data Access and Data Request forms: Questions in the Data Access and Data Request forms have been revised to improve clarity and compliance.
• New Health DCAT-AP Metadata model explorer: This interactive tool offers a visual and user-friendly reference to help users apply the Health DCAT-AP specification. It displays definitions, cardinalities, usage notes, and RDF examples for each metadata element.
• New Health DCAT-AP Dataset Description Assistant: An intuitive interface designed to support data holders in producing structured and compliant dataset descriptions, in line with the Health DCAT-AP specification. By guiding users through a dynamic form adapted to the dataset’s access rights, the Assistant ensures high metadata quality, consistency, and regulatory alignment.
• A dedicated interface to support Health Data Access Bodies in preparing their mandatory biennial reports in line with the EHDS Regulation: This first implementation introduces the reporting questions and enables a clear, user-friendly presentation of the collected data, ensuring consistency, traceability, and regulatory compliance.
• Automated translation of datasets received from member states and applications submitted in the HealthData@EU Central Platform: The Application filled in in French, which contains German, Spanish and Greek datasets, after the submission will be translated to all these languages and English and sent to all referenced National Contact Points.

This release is open for community testing and feedback. Users and Member States representatives are warmly invited to explore the new features. Your input is essential to refine and finalize future developments.

Release 6 introduces multiple new capabilities that strengthen the HealthData@EU Central Platform and Infrastructure:

1. Improved data application workflows
   A refreshed interface guides users through the full data application lifecycle, making complex processes easier to navigate and understand.
2. Assessment status exchange via NCPs
   The Central Platform can now exchange detailed assessment status updates with National Contact Points, ensuring consistent information across EU and national systems.
3. Enhanced interaction with HDABs
   HDABs can request additional information during the assessment process, and applicants can respond directly within the platform, improving efficiency and transparency.
4. Decisions, permits, and follow-up actions
   The platform supports the receipt and display of positive and negative decisions, confirmation of Data Permits, appeals, and requests for permit amendments.
5. EU-level Registry
   As required by the EHDS Regulation, this feature allows the Central Platform to publish an up-to-date registry of data applications and HDAB decisions, as well as a European-wide registry of non-compliance measures and results from secondary use.
6. Updated Health DCAT-AP implementation
   A revised draft of the Health DCAT-AP technical specifications has been implemented, reflecting stakeholder feedback and supporting harmonised dataset descriptions across Member States.

Streamlined Platform Structure

Release 6 also consolidates several existing features into clearer, more intuitive sections on the HealthData@EU Central Platform home page:

• EU Dataset Catalogue
  Now incorporates the SPARQL search feature.
• Optimised translation
  Increased translation performance by applying translation segmentation on the Data Access and Data Request Application forms.
• Updated My Applicant Space
  This new area displays active and draft applications, as well as final decisions (positive or negative) transmitted by NCPs on behalf of HDABs – all directly in the user’s profile.
• Updated Basket
  A redesigned Basket provides improved clarity, giving users better visibility into existing draft applications.
• Reports and Monitoring
  Now includes both Datasets Statistics and HDAB Biennial Reports.
• Implementation Support
  Combines the Dataset Description Assistant and Metadata Model Explorer, based on the Release 6 draft of Health DCAT-AP (improved based on Member States’ comments).

Call for Testing

Release 6 is now open for community testing, and we warmly invite all stakeholders – whether HDABs, NCPs, data holders, researchers, public authorities or newcomers to the EHDS – to explore the new features and share their feedback. 

By trying out the updated workflows, Registry, application tools and improved user experience, you will directly help refine the Central Platform and ensure it meets the needs of its diverse community. 

Your insights are essential to building a robust and future-proof HealthData@EU infrastructure, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Time-bound management of data access applications

Release 7 introduces functionality to support the implementation and monitoring of time limits in the application assessment process. This enables structured tracking of key procedural steps (submission, evaluation, decision), visibility on deadlines for both applicants and HDABs, compliance with EHDS timelines and more predictable processing.

For applicants

• Improved usability of the EU Dataset Catalogue : Release 7 introduces a favourites functionality allowing users to save and reuse frequently used search queries, facilitate navigation and reuse of queries results.
• Notification system : A notification service has been introduced to inform applicant of changes in application status, requests for additional information, other relevant messages from HDABs. This supports timely interaction between applicants and HDABs throughout the procedure.
• Collaborative editing of data access applications : The platform now supports multi-user collaboration on a single application. This allows multiple contributors to jointly prepare and update an application, better coordination within applicant teams, improved completeness and quality of submitted applications.

HDABs Workspace and transparency registry 

The release further develops the distinction between a public-facing registry (for transparency towards any external users), and a dedicated workspace for HDABs (supporting internal processing and tasks management). 

This supports both transparency obligations under the EHDS, and efficient handling of procedures by competent authorities.

Updates of HealthDCAT-AP and subsequent platform enhancements

HealthDCAT-AP has been updated to reflect the latest comitology discussions. This includes :

• The introduction of a mandatory property indicating whether a dataset is structured,
• New controlled vocabularies for the conformsTo and hasCodingSystem properties.
• “Variables” property was moved from the Sample distribution level to Dataset level, supporting the description of dataset content (data dictionaries for structured datasets),

The platform has been updated accordingly, in particular in the dataset detail pages and the configuration of implementation support tools.

Stakeholders implementation support 

** To support Member states implementation of Regulation the Commission has developed and published: 

• The open source solution for the National part of the HealthData@EU infrastructure. The implementation is supported by the detailed documentation of the HealthData@EU infrastructure, including the business requirements, use cases, technical specifications, OpenAPIs specifications and architecture. 
• The open source solution for the Health Data Application Form Builder, which is a standardised, reusable template designed to translate the EHDS requirements into a structured format for the request of Health Data, ensuring consistency, completeness and transparency across the EU. 
• DG SANTE Portal for end-2-end tests with the HealthData@EU Central Platform. Where authorized stakeholders can test the application assessment process regarding the message exchange through the HealthData@EU infrastructure.

System-level improvements

Additional technical updates have been implemented  for scalability of the platform and the reliability of core services.

Improvements such as:

• Performance Optimization
• Cloud Infrastructure auto-scaling 
• Automatic Translation workflow optimizations
• Library/Dependencies upgrades 
   

Dataset Details page aligned with HealthDCAT-AP and optimised for large numbers of variables

• The Dataset Details page of the EU Dataset Catalogue has been redesigned and updated to make HealthDCAT-AP key properties more prominent. Additionally, the new solution allows to display and easily browse through a large number of variables.
• The “Add to Basket” functionality was moved to the top of the page to improve user experience.
• A new subpage has been created to support the future display of a metadata quality indicator assessing dataset descriptions against HealthDCAT-AP requirements.

Health Data Application and assessment process improvements

• Section 1 of the Health Data Application was redesigned to align with the updated Variables display of the Dataset Details page.
• The decision process for Data Access and Data Request applications was updated to align with Policy requirements.
• The HDAB now issues a Draft Data Permit. The applicant can acknowledge the draft, request clarifications or withdraw the relevant dataset from the Data Access Application. If the Applicant does not respond to the decision on time, the system informs the former (the HDAB) about the deadline expiry. The same logic has been applied to the Data Request application decision flow.
• To allow for better searching and referencing as well as consistency, the Data Request Reference number has been introduced for Data Request application decisions, following the same usage as the existing Permit reference number for the Data Access applications.
• Additionally, all attachments in Applications will undergo a security check before being uploaded to the system and translated.

New user role: HDAB User and dedicated services

• A new user role, the Health Data Access Body user (HDAB User) has been introduced, giving authorised users access to the Authorities Workspace page and its restricted services.
• HDAB Users can consult the Enforcement Measures Registry, which contains enforcement measures published by Health Data Access Bodies through the Enforcement Information Exchange Tool in the Authorities Workspace.

New functionality for validating and publishing results from secondary uses

• As mandated by Article 61(4) of the EHDS Regulation, results or outputs of secondary use must be made public within the applicable timeframe. Release 8 introduces functionality supporting this process. Once a Data Permit has been granted, or a positive decision on a Data Request has been issued, the applicant can submit the corresponding results to the associated HDAB for validation before publishing them in the relevant registry on the HealthData@EU Central Platform.

Newsletter service

• Users of the HealthData@EU Central Platform can now subscribe to the newsletter service and receive email notification when newsletter content is published. The service is supported by the Drupal Content Management System (CMS), which is used to manage and publish content on the HealthData@EU Central Platform.

HealthDCAT-AP Technical Specifications changes

• To support the technical representation of the “Variables” metadata element defined under the Article 77 implementing act, dct:title has been introduced as a mandatory property of the csvw:TableGroup class. It provides a title for groups of variables/tables and supports their clear presentation in the EU Dataset Catalogue. This is a technical modelling requirement within HealthDCAT-AP and does not introduce an additional minimum metadata element beyond those defined in the implementing act.
• A new optional property healthdcatap:hdabCoordinator was introduced to represent the coordinating HDAB where relevant.
• The HealthDCAT-AP Technical specifications were updated so that properties are listed alphabetically by name.
• The Technical Standard and Coding System controlled vocabularies were updated.
• A “Type of standard” column was added to the conformsTo controlled vocabulary to support its hierarchical/thesaurus structure.
• The HealthDCAT-AP specifications and controlled vocabularies were migrated to the official EHDS domain data.health.europa.eu.