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28/09/2026

The XiA - Xpanding Innovative Alliance project is launching its Community of Practice, a new European collaborative space designed to bring together professionals, educators, researchers, public authorities, healthcare organisations, industry representatives and standards communities around one shared objective: strengthening the skills needed to implement interoperable digital health across Europe.


As the European Health Data Space moves from policy ambition to practical implementation, healthcare systems will need more than technical standards. They will need people able to understand, teach, apply, validate and adapt those standards in real organisational settings. The XiA Community of Practice responds to this need by creating a structured but open environment where stakeholders can exchange knowledge, provide feedback, test educational resources and support the uptake of interoperability training across Europe.

The launch of the Community of Practice marks an important milestone for XiA. It reflects the project’s ambition to go beyond the production of educational materials and build a living alliance of organisations and individuals committed to preparing Europe’s digital health workforce.

“The EHDS is not only about national-level infrastructure. It will require thousands of hospitals, healthcare organisations and software providers to understand and implement interoperable health data in practice,” said Henrique Martins, XiA Project Coordinator. “Building the skills needed across this much larger implementation ecosystem is therefore essential. The Community of Practice gives XiA a way to connect its educational work with the organisations and professionals who will ultimately put interoperability into practice.”

 

What comes next

Following the launch, XiA will progressively activate the Community of Practice through targeted consultations, learning activities, national engagement moments, webinars and validation opportunities.

The Community of Practice will also connect with XiA’s wider educational and communication activities, including the Hospitals on FHIR webinar series, XiA Open Learning Sessions and the upcoming XiA Educathon in Pisa during the Hospitals on FHIR User Days.

More information about upcoming Community of Practice activities, consultation opportunities and participation pathways will be shared in the coming weeks.

Organisations and professionals interested in digital health interoperability skills, EHDS readiness, training development or educational uptake are invited to join the XiA's community.

For more information

Join the XiA Community of Practice here

More detail on the Community of Practice here

Visit the XiA website

Follow XiA on LinkedIn 

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Resources

  • XiA launches its Community of Practice press release 28 September 2026 PDF*
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