Welsh organisations invited to bid for share of €6m European digital health fund

Nation.Cymru staff

Welsh businesses, universities and health organisations are being invited to bid for a share of €6 million in European funding for digital health projects.

Wales is one of seven areas eligible for the second funding round from UNITE, the European digital health programme that the Welsh Government joined earlier this year after securing its first EU grant since Brexit.

The latest call will provide up to €1 million for each successful project, with a maximum of €600,000 available to an individual organisation. Applications close on December 10, with successful projects expected to begin in April 2027.

Start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses, research and innovation organisations, hospitals, testbeds and other organisations working in digital health can apply.

Applicants must be based in one of the participating areas: Wales, Scotland, Lombardy in Italy, Central Macedonia in Greece, Extremadura and Aragón in Spain, or Romania.

The funding will focus on two areas: using technology to improve equality in access to healthcare and developing digital solutions to help tackle workforce shortages.

Projects could include technologies aimed at reducing administrative workloads, improving clinical and organisational processes and supporting staff training, as well as innovations designed to address gaps in access to healthcare and personalised care, particularly for older and disadvantaged people.

The second funding round follows an initial call that attracted more than 1,000 organisations and resulted in three projects being selected.

They include a remote monitoring system for older patients with heart failure, work on the use of sensitive data in neonatal intensive care and a project addressing fragmented radiation exposure data from medical imaging.

Dr Marina Samoylova, UNITE Programme Manager, said: “The success of the UNITE’s First Open Call demonstrated what can happen when digital health innovators, researchers and healthcare organisations connect across regional borders.

“Three ambitious interregional projects are now turning that collaboration into concrete solutions. The Second Open Call will build on that momentum and bring more promising innovations closer to real-world impact.”

An online information session for organisations interested in applying will be held on September 30.

Horizon Europe programme

Wales joined the five-year UNITE European Digital Health Valleys project earlier this year after the Welsh Government secured more than £700,000 through the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.

The agreement, announced in July, was described as Wales’ first EU grant since Brexit and opened the programme to Welsh businesses, universities, NHS organisations and other bodies working on digital healthcare.

At the time, Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price said joining UNITE would give Welsh organisations access to a network of European digital health regions and create opportunities to collaborate internationally and access funding.

UNITE is co-funded by the European Union and brings together public bodies, businesses, researchers, healthcare organisations and civil society across Europe to develop and deploy digital health technologies.

Further information about the funding call and how to apply is available on the UNITE website.

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