Smart FOX

Smart and Federated Open Data eXchange of Citizen-based Data Donations
for Clinical Research

What is Smart FOX?

Smart FOX lays the foundations for making citizen-based data donations of ELGA-standardized information usable in clinical research. Through the active participation of citizens, who will be able to make their health data available for research purposes in the future, the project paves the way for more efficient clinical research, improved healthcare and optimized system control in the healthcare sector. 19 partners from all areas of healthcare, research and industry form the backbone of this interdisciplinary undertaking.

Project facts

Project name	Smart and Federated Open Data eXchange of Citizen-based Data Donations for Clinical Research
Funding period	01.01.2024 – 31.12.2025 (24 months)
Funding volume	€ 2,5 Mio
Funding body	FFG - The Austrian Research Promotion Agency
Funding programm	Austrian Life-Sciences-Programme 2023, Lead project
Consortium	19 project partners from 4 federal states
Coordination	AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH

Project consortium

DI Dr. Klaus Donsa, BSc

Project leader, Senior Scientist

“With the realization of Smart FOX, we hope to offer patients the opportunity to participate in clinical research and at the same time contribute to the democratization of health data in Austria.”

Univ. Prof. Dr. Kurt Zatloukal

Head of the Diagnostic and Research Center for Molecular Biomedicine

“The experience gained from the practical tests (use cases) carried out as part of Smart FOX, to what extent and under what conditions ELGA data can be used for research, has far-reaching implications for science, society and politics.”

DI Nikola Tanjga

Standards Engineer

“With the implementation of Smart FOX, we can see how patient-controlled secondary use can benefit from the more than 10 years of standardization of primary use in ELGA and prepare ourselves for the potential challenges of European projects such as eHDSI.”

Gerhard Riva

Software Team Lead ELGA

“With the implementation of Smart FOX, we want to show patients a way to actively support clinical research and take the democratization of health data in Austria one step further.”

Dr. Matthias Ruhri

Managing Partner

“By integrating our digital services into the Smart FOX project, we expect to enable patients to participate in the democratization of their own health data.”

Emilia Schützenhofer

Communication & Dissemination Partner

“The implementation of Smart FOX demonstrates the positive impact of efficient data networking and the shared use of data for the benefit of Austrian society. DIO is helping to communicate these positive developments and raise public awareness.”

Sofia Ovejero

T4C Project Lead & Business Operations

“With the upcoming implementation of Smart FOX, we aim to empower patients to actively shape the landscape of clinical research in Austria. T4C’s innovative platform is poised to serve as a crucial bridge between patients, healthcare providers , and the life sciences industry, efficiently gathering and presenting patient records based on specific criteria. This represents a promising step towards future collaborative and patient centric healthcare advancements in Austria.”

Mag. Michaela Topolnik, MA

Public Affairs & Stakeholder Relations Lead

“EIT Health Austria is involved in the think tank activities of EIT Health e.V. on the European Health Data Health Data Space.”

DI Dr. Christoph Pacher

CTO/CSO

“fragmentiX will protect all patient data from current cyber threats with the secret sharing appliances we develop and produce in Austria. Our cryptography has already been proven to protect against future quantum computers.”

MMag. Dr. Alexander Degelsegger Márquez

Department leader International, Policy, Evaluation and Digitization & Senior Health Expert

“In Smart FOX möchten wir den Sektor unterstützen, eine offene, anschlussfähige und EHDS kompatible Referenzimplementierung in die Praxis zu bringen, welche ethische Prinzipien und den gesellschaftlichen Nutzen von Gesundheitsdatennutzung in den Vordergrund stellt.”

Elisabeth Klager, MSc

Administrative Director / Open Innovation in Science Manager

“By continuously involving citizens and patients, we are creating a solution that is very popular and meets the diverse expectations of as many stakeholders as possible.”

Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Tanja Stamm, PhD, MSc, MBA

Professor & Head of the Institute for Outcomes Research

“Smart FOX enables health data to be used effectively and in a patient-centered way.”

DDr. Thomas Schabetsberger

Head of eHealth & Patient Engagement

“For Europe to keep pace in the field of health research, clinical data must become accessible to researchers. Digitally supported processes are needed to make it easier for researchers and patients.”

Hannah Gsell, MSc

Chairwoman Survivors Austria & Patient Expert

“By participating in the Smart FOX project, we want to help our community to understand the meaning and purpose of data donations so well that they can accept or decline requests in full knowledge of the significance and purpose of these donations, and to ensure that the goals within the project meet the needs of our community.”

DI Dr. Andreas Ziegl

eHealth Software Expert

“We look forward to investigating the possibilities and willingness to incentivize citizen and patient-based data donation. We will help develop the necessary technological breakthrough for this.”

DI Sabrina Neururer, PhD

Lead of Institute for Clinical Epidemiology (IET)

“With the realization of Smart FOX, we hope to further develop ‘smart registries’ as well as registry work and research in Austria and Tyrol and thus improve the benefits of registries for decision support. improve the benefits of registries for decision support.”

Univ.-Prof. DipI.-Ing. Dr. Bernhard Pfeifer

Lead of Division of Integrated Care and Telehealth

“With the realization of Smart FOX, we hope to take ‘Smart Registers’ in Austria and Tyrol a big step further and thus be able to integrate a more holistic patient perspective into clinical decision-making.”