Digital Health Innovations for Resilient, Equitable, and Sustainable European Healthcare Systems

Europe’s public health systems face increasing pressure from ageing populations, rising multimorbidity, widening health inequalities, and persistent workforce constraints. These pressures are placing growing strain on core public health functions including surveillance, prevention, health promotion, and preparedness. In response, and in line with priorities highlighted through the European Digital Health Summit (EDHS) and emerging EU digital governance frameworks, this Research Topic focuses on how digital public health innovation can strengthen resilient, equitable, and sustainable health systems across Europe.A central theme of the collection is the development of interoperable population-health data infrastructures that can integrate with national and cross-border surveillance systems, while supporting responsible innovation under evolving European policy frameworks, including the EU AI Act and related initiatives in digital health, data governance, and health system transformation, such as the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Leveraging real-time data streams—including routine health, behavioural, and environmental data—such approaches can support context-aware risk modelling, early warning, and decision support for public health action. Contributions should therefore demonstrate not only technical innovation, but also clear relevance to public health practice, policy implementation, and measurable population health outcomes, with particular attention to privacy, fairness, transparency, accountability, and equity.Within this policy and systems framework, the Research Topic welcomes work addressing key European public health priorities where digital innovation may have substantial impact. These include strengthening surveillance and preparedness capacities, supporting One Health approaches through integrated human, animal, and environmental data systems, improving responses to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), zoonotic and climate-related threats, and enhancing the monitoring, allocation, and equitable access to essential medicines and vaccines. Across these domains, particular emphasis will be placed on scalable and implementable solutions that support workforce capability, strengthen governance, and translate effectively into real-world public health settings.This Research Topic therefore welcomes empirical studies and applied methodological contributions showing how digital public health can strengthen surveillance, prevention, preparedness, and equity in alignment with European digital policy directions. Submissions may focus on, but are not limited to:• Digital public health innovation aligned with EDHS priorities and EU policy frameworks, including the EU AI Act, health data governance, and responsible AI implementation.• Surveillance integration, early warning, context-aware risk modelling, and decision support using interoperable and real-time data streams.• Implementation and translational research on scaling digital public health interventions, including governance, interoperability, and workforce capability.• One Health digital infrastructures for AMR, zoonoses, and climate-related health risks, integrating human, animal, and environmental signals.• Digital tools to strengthen preparedness, vaccine and medicines security, allocation, transparency, and equitable public health response.• Ethical, regulatory, and societal implications of AI and digital public health, including privacy, fairness, transparency, accountability, and public trust.• Validation of GenAI/LLMs and federated learning in public health workflows, such as outbreak response, risk communication, and prevention programmes. Topic editors: Maddalena Illario, Carina Dantas, Regina Roller-Wirnsberger, Ivan Chorbev, Joanna Lane, Guido Iaccarino, Donna Henderson Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78759/digital-health-innovations-for-resilient-equitable-and-sustainable-european-healthcare-systems